Ahoy, squirts. Quint here with rather negative look at this upcoming flick from Nick Cassavetes (JOHN Q.)... This is the first word I've heard on the flick, but I did see a rough trailer for this run in the New Line room when I infiltrated the American Film Market earlier this year. Looks to be as overly sappy as the trailer made it out to be, if "Seattle Slew" is correct.
Harry
Earlier this week, I attended the advanced screening of Nick Cassavetes new film, The Notebook. The film will open the Seattle International Film Festival on May 20.
The film stars James Garner and, in an inspired bit of nepotistic casting, Cassavetes's own mom, Gena Rowlands.
To open, we find Rolands's character living in an old folks home and suffering from dementia. Garner, also a resident of the home, arrives at Rowlands room to read from a notebook he carries around with him.
The notebook contains a love story that Rowlands may somewhat remember hearing before. And 5 minutes into that brief set up, we fade into our first flashback, and the old folks are quickly dismissed so the young and lithe can take over.
Ryan Gossling plays Noah, the poor, yet charming lumberyard worker, while Rachel McAdams is Allie, the rich, bored heroine. Allie's parents are summering in a small North Carolina town where Noah lives. The two meet at a carnival one summer in the late 1930s. McAdams reluctantly takes up Gossling's proposal for a date. Then for the next 40 minutes, the movie seemingly follows the script from Dirty Dancing as the two kids from the opposite worlds, find love sans all the dirty dancing and Swayze sweat.
Alas, there'll be no big dance finale in this movie, as Allie's parents, who dislike the fact that Noah pulls down $.40 an hour (after taxes!) and whisks their daughter the hell out of Dodge and ships her off to college at Sarah Lawrence. And that means, NO DOGS ALLOWED!
A heartbroken Noah joins the Army and fights in WWII, which takes up about 3 minutes of screen time. The war lasts just long enough to knock off Noah's childhood pal and second banana. Now with his girl gone and friend dead, Noah has little choice but to move back to North Carolina and renovate an old plantation house.
And then, blah blah blah.
You know, before I continue, I suppose I should say that this movie is set up like it has a big twist ending planned for the audience. I was primed for the payoff, I was jazzed for a juicy conclusion that would blow the mind of mine and the collective audience around me.
And that's where the movie, and I suppose the book it's based on for that matter, fails. It's just straightforward. Sure there's obstacles that the young lovers must overcome to find happiness, but what sappy, love story doesn't? Every movie needs some sort of conflict. The conflict here just doesn't seem to be movieworthy.
Sure the story has some sort of emotional resonance, but I couldn't help feeling played by such ham-fisted acting and tired romantic cliches.
A lot has been written about Gosling being the next big thing, but here, his performance is on par with a Mark-Paul Gosselaar, vintage Saved By The Bell effort. While he does have his charming moments, throughout the movie, he purveys an undermining creepiness that is distracting and makes one worry for the bodily safety of young Allie.
McAdams's Allie is a sweet southern stereotype who'll drawl her way into your heart and then make you want to rip it out and quickly inject it with insulin. She is serviceable as our heroine but her clumsy acting and awkward delivery can also be distracting.
Perhaps the best performance of the day was by Cyclops himself, James Marsden. As Allie's affably, southern-fried post-Noah love interest, he offers a sleek and stable performance that makes you wonder why Allie wouldn't just marry this dude on sight. Because without conflict, there is no movie.
Therefore, Noah, brooding and disturbing, just won't go away.
Throughout the flick, during certain period changes, we flash forward to Garner and Rowlands, as they take a break from perusing the notebook's contents.
Garner, an always reliable and compelling figure, plays the part of the notebook's owner very well, but the character' s emotional payback doesn't come until the films final, excruciatingly unneccesary 10 minutes.
And as far as dementia-addled nursing home residents go, Rowlands has the market cornered. However, her actual overall screen time clocks in at about 20 minutes. Therefore, her mission is to look old and confused is accomplished and then she's quickly removed from the scene.
Anyway, as this film draws to a close, Allie has a choice to make and this is where the movie just cops out. I won't delve any deeper, but once the decision is made, the movie wants to pound you with a few more "True Love Forever" moments that'll make you squirm. And, oh boy, this film's final frames look like they were either test-audienced to hell or written by my mother. Eitherway, they are liable to make your teeth rot out.
Bottomline, this movie is watchable, but certainly not what it could've been. Gossling and McAdams come off as college theatre majors and Garner and Rowlands's time is too fleeting. This movie will open in the latter half of June so perhaps a few reshoots may be in order. More imporatntly, beware that this movie will throw the kitchen sink at you in hopes that you'll emotionally flinch. But you're better than that, aren't you?
Your Pal,
Seattle Slew
