The Notebook

The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and based on Nicholas Sparks’s 1996 novel of the same name. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man (portrayed by James Garner) telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident (played by Gena Rowlands, who is Cassavetes’s mother).

The Notebook received generally mixed reviews, but performed well at the box office and received a number of award nominations, winning eight Teen Choice Awards, a Satellite Award, and an MTV Movie Award. The film became a sleeper hit and has gained a cult following. On November 11, 2012, ABC Family premiered an extended version with deleted scenes added back into the original storyline.