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A very good film that could have been great. Upon my wife's insistence, I sat down and watched The Notebook with her. I must admit that despite my reluctance at first to view the movie, I was quickly drawn in to the story and watched intently until the end. I knew going in that it was a romance which didn't bode well, I thought. But as it turns out, the plot and characters are just unique enough that you don't feel as if you've seen it all before. Fans of romance films will likely dub The Notebook as the second coming of Gone With The Wind. I will concur that it comes very close to being a truly great film, romance or otherwise. There is a rare chemistry that exists between the two romantic interests in the film that ultimately carries the day for the movie. You most definitely find yourself caring for these characters early in the story. Once a movie achieves that it has half the battle won. My criticism of this film is twofold. First, while James Garner does a passable job in his role, he just seems miscast and appears to be a fish out of water in his scenes. Perhaps I'm just so used to him playing gruff, tough guy characters that I won't allow myself to believe him as who he is in the film. Or maybe he's so acutely aware of that reputation himself that he guilds the lily a bit in his scenes. Either way, I feel there were better choices out there for his role. The other criticism I have is germane to the story itself. What was so great about this romance, is that pretty much all of it could indeed have happened in real life. The film sets real world rules and plays by the them 99% of the time. There are harsh realities everywhere in the film and it makes no bones about them. You come to realize that perhaps things won't end happily ever after as most romances do. The Notebook doesn't allow itself to drift into a fantasy existence where "the keeper of the stars" leads the principal characters by the nose. But as the movie hits the finish line, it changes those rules and crosses over. There are two endings in the film, and I am not referring to a DVD extra that you can view. I mean there are two endings that occur back to back. One is the proper and natural ending that is in keeping with the rhythm and rules of the entire film. It leaves to the imagination what we already know is an inevitability, but at the same time affords the audience a last chance at a bittersweet ending. At that point the credits should have rolled and everyone would be talking about how this movie is one of the best romances ever made. Alas, the story goes one step too far and isn't satisfied to let things end as they are. An additional scene is played out and is the chronological ending, which is both entirely unnecessary and a bit of a cheat. It appears as if the director just couldn't make up his mind which way to best end the film, so he just decided to punt and include both. From the sound of it, you'd think I hated the film, but nothing could be further from the truth. I was just frustrated at the way the ending was handled and how the rules that were adhered to for the length of the film were broken right at the end for an overly sentimental purpose. It was unnecessary and took a 5 star film down to a 4 for no good reason. It's still most certainly worth a purchase. The acting, writing, cinematography and pacing are all superb. I highly recommend the movie, but I'm quite sure that many will agree with me once they see it that the first ending was all this movie needed.