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Allie and Noah row gently down the stream

The blazing fire of youthful passion is one of the most overworked themes in film, but it remains infinitely interesting. Youth is a time of energy and hope, and we are afraid we'll miss something if we blink. The warm glow of mature love is rare on the big screen, and perhaps in life as well. Youthful love, while often passionate, usually fails to go the distance, to "death do us part." It's one thing to see two teenagers holding hands, gazing longingly into one another's eyes. It's something else indeed to see the same scene with lovers in their 70s or 80s.

The Notebook is a thoughtful, emotionally rich film that asks the right questions about love and life. In it, we see that great love, like deep faith, is forged on doubt, trials, and hardships. Only then does it deliver its deepest—and most eternal—rewards.

Talk About It

1. To what extent is deep love based on deep emotion? To what extent must it be based on similar hopes and dreams?
   
   
2. The early Christians prayed for a good death rather than an easy one. How would you want to end your days with the one you love?
   
   
3. How are faith in God's love and faith in an enduring romantic love similar? Different?

The Family Corner

The Notebook is rated PG-13 for sensual, though not explicit love scenes. The young lovers struggle with their sexual desire as it affects their yearning to connect on a deep level.

Photos © Copyright New Line Cinema

Nick Cassavetes' new film The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember), tells the story of an aging couple who, as one of them struggles with Alzheimer's disease, spend time reminiscing about their younger days and their romantic courtship. James Garner and Gena Rowlands play the older version of the couple, while Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are the youthful lovers.

Steve Beard (Thunderstruck) says, "The movie is about enduring and passionate love that burns brightly with flames at the outset and ends up graduating to white-hot coals that last a lifetime." He also cautions viewers, "Hipper-than-thou movie critics are going to call it sappy, sentimental, and unrealistic. Ignore them. You will not find a more jaundiced crowd than movie critics."

Strangely enough, most Christian press critics aren't calling the movie any of those things. Almost all of them are celebrating the film, except for a few who point out that the film portrays premarital sex in romantic and appealing light.

Stefan Ulstein (Christianity Today Movies) says it's an "engaging, intergenerational love story. Sparks's novel rests in good hands with this fine adaptation by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi. The Notebook is a thoughtful, emotionally rich film that asks the right questions about love and life. In it, we see that great love, like deep faith, is forged on doubt, trials, and hardships. Only then does it deliver its deepest—and most eternal—rewards."

Jenn Wright (Hollywood Jesus) says the story is "incredibly moving. While there are no secrets about how the story will play out, The Notebook offers a beautiful tale well-told. It is a tale of love—how it begins, how it works, how it ends … and doesn't end. In it we see a picture of an ideal—a devotion, a loyalty, an unwavering commitment to love, honor, and cherish: in sickness and in health."

Cliff Vaughn (Ethics Daily) raves, "The Notebook is a beautifully shot love story. From the opening frames to the last, viewers experience a cinematic atmosphere as enveloping as the love of the film's main characters."

Annabelle Robertson (Crosswalk) says, "Get your tissues ready. Even if this film plays on literary misconceptions about love and romance, it's still a heartwarming tear fest."

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) writes, "This is a mature story about enduring love, commitment, and sacrifice that will have resonance among those blessed to have found a life partner with whom to weather the storms of time. As the baby boomer generation continues to advance in age, these types of stories, as sentimental as they may be, will have more and more meaning for us."

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Related Elsewhere:

Nicholas Sparks	Printer view
The author of A Walk to Remember has another novel coming to the big screen: The Notebook, a beautiful love story opening next week.