This movie seems to be postcard perfect, a lesson straight out of the director's guide to romantic movies. Boy meets girl at a carnival, love from the other side of the tracks, a date by the water, etc. And yet the wonderful thing about this movie is that it takes what seems like a story you've heard already (at least in bits and pieces) and still moves you deeply. It really speaks about love in a way that most romantic movies miss by speaking in cliché or over shoot by adding in numerous complications to dramatize things. There have been other great movies to comment on love in recent years (Eternal Sunshine, Lost In Translation jump to mind) but this movie fills a need that those other movies miss: the need for a straight, sweep you off your feet romance. Too bad there can't be movies like this every year...
Review of The Notebook
