Nights in Rodanthe

While I am not a woman, I can enjoy a chick flick if its good. This one however is beyond bad. You have the by the book story, girl is getting divorced, boy with issues shows up. BOOM magic happens and his demons are banished as she realizes her life has a new purpose. Now while I can believe that kind of thing might happen, I am not an idiot. It wouldn't happen over a weekend of geriatric rumpy-pumpy, it would take time. Yet here the producers know they only have 1 hour and 30 minutes so they force the changes of the two to happen, I suppose a night of getting hammered and a night of gramps and granny going at it like dogs in heat might be enough if you believed romance novels were the gospel... but most people don't. Now, if that isn't enough... the producers remembered that a chick flick needs to make the viewer cry... well they tried to make you cry with the two senior citizens getting jiggy with it by failed... so how could they hit you again? Why I know, lets kill off one of the characters for no good reason at all except that a random death will surely bring a tear to the eye.... and now lets have the teen daughter magically bond with heart broken mom for no reason besides the fact that it would be nice (completely unreal, but who cares). So there you have it... girl find boy, boy find love, death finds boy and mom cries.... what a movie - NOT.

Nights in Rodanthe is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks and I have read a few of his works which mainly involves 2nd-chance romance w a hint of tragedy behind it. I remembered 'A Walk To Remember', 'The Notebook', 'Message In A Bottle'. Starring Richard Gere & Diane Lane, it's a story about a housewife who just divorced her husband and was helping out her best friend's beach inn when Dr Paul arrived at the inn to stay for 5 days. Both had problems they had to face and through these few days they found each other and fell in love. Unfortunately they had to part but continued to keep in touch the old-fashioned way until... Initially, I was a bit reluctant to even make an effort to go to this movie but since it's Nicholas Sparks, I thought I should give it a chance cos Im no fan of Richard Gere nor Diane Lane. The story is pretty pacey w enough sexual tension between the 2 stars, I love the beach inn though, just what I would picture my dream beach house to be, except not that huge and prob not that close to the sea. Surprisingly I found myself mesmerized by Richard Gere, especially his eyes so I would say for his age, he's still very charming. This story is a tearjerker and even tho Im resistant to tearing, it did squeeze out a few drops and certain parts of the movie so it's still good. Overall, a so-so movie that makes you feel like you want to be in love again the old-fashioned way.

Diane Lane (Oscar nominee for "Unfaithful" and "The Perfect Storm") gives a radiant performance as Adrienne Willis, the female lead in "NIGHTS IN RODANTHE". She is unhappily married and separated from her cheating husband. She is trying to men her shattered life by retreating to a lovely guest house on the beach of Rodanthe. There she meets Dr Flanner (played with sophisticated charm and warmth by a top of his game Richard Gere). The two are uncomfortable at first but a bond soon happens between them and they slowly begin to fall in love. But heartache and tragedy are still to come and it is how these characters overcome these that makes this such a satisfying and wonderful film. Gere is very very good and he and Diane Lane strike up a great chemistry (as they did in the hit movie "Unfaithful"), but the acting honours go to Diane Lane who is simply superb in the lead role. Another Oscar worthy performance by this great actress. Very worthwhile movie!

If you read the book before seeing the movie you may be disappointed like I was. The book was great and I was sure after seeing the movie preview that the movie would be great as well, however I felt like I was watching a movie where the director and cast did not even read what these characters where like. The movie is short and they do not really ever make us feel that these people were truly in love and felt like sole mates. Even if the movie did not go in the same direction as the book at least they could of made the romance between these two characters feel more intense. I think both Diane Lane and Richard Gere were perfect for these two characters and they have good chemistry however they just did not develop a long enough storyline for us to see how they longed for each other. The book was true love story and I think this movie could of been a lot better.

This movie is like a baseball player trying to hit a home run and gets really close to hitting one out of the park but never quite makes it. The producer of this movie is trying to convey some kind of important message to the audience and does a good job trying but succeeds only in sending bits and pieces. This movie also raises other questions: Is Hollywood still able to produce a love story that succeeds in keeping the audience's interest? Is Hollywood still able to produce a love story that is not corny? Is Hollywood still able to produce a love story that is well-acted and well-written? Amazingly, shockingly, unbelievably, after watching this movie, the answer to these questions is a qualified yes. Parts of this movie are tedious and can bring a viewer to the brink of slumber, but the movie sufficiently recovers to keep the audience at least awake if not thrilled. The story avoids corniness and the usual Hollywood contrivances that render such Hollywood movies unintentionally laughable and has an upbeat ending in what is, for Hollywood, an attempt to tell a dramatic story involving deeply emotional themes. Diane Lane's performance is outstanding. She is definitely the star of this movie. If you decide to take the time and spend the money to watch this movie, please remember that it's made in Hollywood, so don't expect profound philosophical insights, but do expect a movie that you may actually like.

Ever since they first came to the Outer Banks and filmed the movie (I have lived here my whole life), I have waited for this movie to come out. And I mean waited and waited and waited over a year and a half for this movie and to me, it was worth it. The movie is different from the book but in my eyes, it's still a beautiful piece of work as is the book. In both I cried, there were moments that tore me up. I laughed and I smiled just as much. It's a great movie with a great story line. It's about never giving up on finding that one, the one that will change you forever. The one that will shape your soul and awaken you to a whole new view of life. I have to say that it is possible to meet someone and have them change your life forever, which is what Gere's character did to Lane's. I met the love of my life and at once was completely captivated that I never forgot him or how smitten I was with him until I 'met' him again a year later. For me I could relate to this movie with my whole heart. I think that if you listen and watch the movie with your heart and your hopes you'll see what I'm talking about. It's never too late to find your true love, great work Ms. Lane and Mr. Gere!

I had to go with my wife as it was her birthday and she got to pick the movie. That's 90 minutes of my life that I will never get back. I wish I had been drunk, maybe then I could have enjoyed a good nap while this formulaic nonsense spilled out onto the screen. Why does this Sparks guy keep getting movies made? they're all the same. Sort of like going to see a movie made out of a Harlequin romance "novel". This is in no way Gere or Lane's fault. They are certainly serviceable actors in general, and occasionally better-than-average. But Bogie and Bergman couldn't have saved this piece of crap.

I personally think this is the most difficult genre to pull off - romance has to create some magical reality, and some plausibility: we have to believe it could , would happen to them and to us. Nights partially succeeds in creating some atmosphere and some nice scenes but fails to ignite into magical. Instead what we get is just too rushed and uses too many clichés - every scene feels like it came from somewhere else - and the sparks are somehow not fireworks but squibs. It cannot decide whether to be gentle and meditative and mature, or to be unabashedly full-on. All in all it will be a box office winner given the stars and the lack of other material of its kind - but really this is no classic.

Terrible title for a movie that is not nearly as terrible as some critics have suggested. At a time when there are so many romantic comedies aimed at young viewers, it's no bad thing to have the occasional romantic story that eschews humour and involves characters in middle age - think something along the lines of "Bridges Of Madison County" (both are based on novels). The (goodlooking) stars are Richard Gere, as a doctor seeking to establish a new relationship with his estranged son in Latin America, and Diane Lane, a mother in a deeply unhappy marriage considering whether to abandon it. The (unusual) setting is the Outer Banks of North Carolina at a time of year when hurricanes are threatened. At times, it's a little silly and sentimental but still worth an evening in front of the television if not a visit to the cinema.

Oh, my friend was just dying to see Nights in Rodanthe, I'm convinced she is absolutely in love with Richard Gere, not to mention she just loves romantic movies, so Richard Gere and romance? It's a no brainer, she just had to see this movie, guess who she begged to go with her? Yeah, me, I didn't really want to see it though, it looked too sappy for my tastes, but we got to see it for free, so I figured to just go ahead and give it a fair chance. Well, we saw it today, it was a little better than I expected, which is saying plenty. After seeing the movie Unfaithful, I really wasn't into the whole Diane and Richard being back together on screen, but for some reason they made this story more enjoyable. Even though it was predictable, it was a sweet movie, I hate the sappy movies, despite it's sappiness that I normally resent, it's still a nice movie and was just a breath of fresh air due to the recent movies that we're getting that are either thrillers, comedies, or action. Adrienne Willis is a divorced mother of two who's ex-husband is begging to come back home after a nasty affair he had with one of her friends. She's debating on it since her children want them back together and she feels it should be that way. But when her friend leaves her to run her house on the beach that she rents out to people, Adrienne meets Paul Flanner, a doctor who has had a rough year after loosing a patient on a routine surgery, he's staying in the house with Adrienne. Loosing themselves has been so hard, but when they're together they find themselves once again and bring life back into their world realizing it's OK to be in love once more. Nights in Rodanthe is a nice movie to watch... more so I'd say for either a rental or a matinée, I was more impressed with it than I thought I would be, but it does get predictable, which I hate to say I've just been seeing nothing but predictable films lately. Maybe I should start writing scripts if this is all it takes, I could write a number one movie maybe, wish me luck. But back onto the movie, it has decent acting and does give you watery eyes. It's a nice movie to watch, gives you a little smile and reminds you of the sweeter things in life. Richard and Diane made this movie enjoyable and were lovely on-screen together, it's worth the watch. 6/10