Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Adrienne Willis' (Diane Lane)life is one big muddled mess. She's staying in a isolated coastal village called Rodanthe located in North Carolina. She is temporarily watching over the inn that is owned by her friend Jean (Viola Davis). Through all the calmness, she's indecisive as to weather she wants to return home to her philandering husband Jack (Christopher Meloni) and a daughter who hates her, or make Rodanthe her permanent home. Her outlook on life changes once she gets acquainted by a surgeon named Dr. Paul Flanner (Richerd Gere) who's in the midst of trying to reunite with his distant son, Mark (James Franco) as he checks into the inn for the weekend. In the Hollywood machine, it seems that the age demographics that get sadly neglected are the thirty up moviegoers. At first glance, I thought that "Nights in Rodanthe" will be refreshing romantic drama that will appease to the adults who are roughly around my age group. It looked like it could have starred Bette Davis or Joan Crawford as they smoke like a chimney while engaging in a conversation saturated with cynical jokes with their lovers as we watch as their hearts are crumbling before our very eyes. Unfortunately, this film has more cheese to it than a small pizza. It's just one of those lagging dramas that might appeal to some, but not to others. This film brings back Diane Lane and Richard Gere together again since their last film "Unfaithful". We see Adrienne taking a sabbatical from her womanizing husband and her two children and watches over her friend's motel located in the isolated village of Rodanthe in North Carolina for the weekend. The only patron staying there is a surgeon who's also in need of a hiatus but doesn't want to be alienated from anyone else. We get the idea that a big storm is drawing near because the weather reporter repeatedly warns and an old fisherman also warns us while Adrienne is shopping for groceries. But instead of doing the logical thing when a hurricane is on the horizon like go to a nearby resort for safety precautions, Adrienne and Paul decide to stay on the island and the hotel gets wrecked from its foundations. While this is happening, they get intoxicated, hurl things, exchanged small- talk and get further acquainted and then once the storm bears closer, they eventually they wind up in bed with each other.So the next, day as the bright sun is shining upon them, Adrienne wants Paul come to terms as to explain why he's staying in this hotel. Paul tells her he trying to face his demons before going on a voyage to Ecuador to be reunited with his distant son Mark (cameo from James Franco).I have no personal ill-feelings for Diane Lane. She is a very talented actress and she has a very pretty face for someone her age. For a lady at 50 years old, she has really aged gracefully and her performance in the movie is the only really good thing about this movie. It's the stuffy direction by George C. Wolfe and the badly written script from Anne Peacock and John Romano based on an adaptation from Nicholas Sparks' novel is what ruined this movie. It's all formulaic, predictable with not really much going for it. To me, it's mundane, featherweight melodrama saturated with tiresome clichés and pointless drivel that makes you stare at your watch counting the minutes to when it's going to be over. It's quite shameful that we members of the 35 up club are given this material where the romantic leads are in the middle-aged club. Does Hollywood thin that middle-age people are boring and pry upon boring things? That's very insulting.One more quip I have about "Nights in Rodanthe". The poster of the man caressing Diane is clearly not Richard Gere. Whoever he is, is not very convincing. How gullible does the Hollywood industry think we are? Don't insult our intelligence.

This movie has the signature of Nicholas Sparks - romance and tragedy. It has been the same for all his works which have been made into movies - the notebook, A walk to remember, message in a bottle, dear John. Nights is no different. It's a sweet love story. Richard Gere and Diane lene depict believable characters. Full marks to both of them for the chemistry and displayed emotions. I fell for the locations of the movie and the cinematography - The inn is breathtaking with all the blue colours. What a beach location! The extra effort to make the actors wear some shade of blue all the time was clearly visible. Would have appreciated the movie more if time was invested in building up the love between richard and diane. It seemed a bit abrupt. I did feel happy when they hooked up and sad when Richard dies, but the magic of "A walk to remember" was missing. That movie really touched me...nights just missed it by inches.Overall, for a Nicholas Sparks work, I was hoping for more magic. 6.5 out of 10 for me.

Adapted from Nicholas Sparks' popular romance novel of the same title, director George C. Wolfe's Nights in Rodanthe tells the tale of a doctor en route to reconcile with his estranged son when his benevolent mission is sidelined upon checking into a North Carolina beach-town inn. When the doctor arrives at the inn, he enters into a passionate affair with an unhappily married woman who is currently considering divorce.It stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane.The movie is strongly mottled by contrivances that one may find implausible.Even the performance and the charisma of Diane Lane and Richard Gere can't save this film from disaster.At the same time,it also just managed to be a romantic tearjerker and melodramatic like many films of similar genre.This could probably be enjoyed by young adults.

A one-dimensional weeper. Adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel casts Diane Lane as a wife and mother who retreats to her friend's empty bed-and-breakfast on the coast of North Carolina after her husband has an extra-marital affair; soon after, she meets Richard Gere, a troubled doctor who has recently lost one of his patients and is facing a malpractice lawsuit. Despite these attractive players, reunited from "The Cotton Club" and "Unfaithful", there's not a single convincing moment to be found--even the stormy-romantic locale seems plastic, a computer-generated confection. The narrative has been engineered to give Lane in particular a real emotional workout: she shouts, she worries, she cries, she laughs, she gets tipsy, she dances with carefree abandon. By the time the plot mechanisms kick in, audiences have had their fill of her. As a result, the finale--weighty with tragedy--doesn't carry much resonance. ** from ****