| Audience: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for some sensuality. |
| Profanity: | Mild language |
| Nudity/Sex: | Non-explicit sexual situations and references including adultery |
| Alcohol/Drugs: | Drinking, characters get drunk |
| Violence/Scariness: | Sad death |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Movie Release Date: | September 26, 2008 |
Of course Richard Gere is going to fall in love with Diane Lane in this movie. How could he resist her and why would he try? Certainly the audience will fall in love with her, too. There is no actress who conveys so much with so little. The subtlety and complexity of her performances is one of the wonders of cinema. Close-ups were invented for Lane's rare beauty, inside and out. We feel that it is her spirit as an actress and a character illuminating this story.
And we cannot help but feel a sense of completion in seeing the two of them together, after two previous films that showed their palpable connection. This film, based on the book by chronicler of the grown-up romance Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook
It is lovely to see a mature romance and this one is beautifully played by Gere and Lane, with Scott Glenn as a widower whose story provides poignant counterpoint. Viola Davis is superb as always in the thinly written role of the best friend, Christopher Meloni is fine as Adrienne's maddening ex-husband, and an unbilled James Franco makes the most of his brief appearance as Paul's doctor son. But it is Lane who simple honesty and luminous spirit keep us watching and believing that some day we, too, might find love and meaning and forgiveness on a stormy night in Rodanthe.
Parents should know that this film includes sexual references and briefly explicit situations, reference to adultery, tense confrontations, and sad deaths.
Family discussion: What was the most important thing Adrienne and Paul learned from each other? How did what they learned change the way they communicated with their children? Trivia note: Sparks named the main characters after his in-laws as a Christmas present. And the story has some parallels to Sparks' own real-life romance.
If you like this try: "The Notebook," by the same author, and "Unfaithful," also starring Gere and Lane
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