I made a New Year's resolution this year, and after seeing The Notebook, it's a resolution I wish I didn't make, rather, a resolution I didn't stick to. My resolution this year was to at least make an effort to see EVERY film that I possibly can, given the limitations of the options around me. These limitations basically leave me with blockbusters, comedies and movies like The Notebook. Like most guys, I usually strayed from the "chick flick" genre, unless my methods of hypnosis managed to persuade my way into a date of some sort...so yeah, basically I didn't see any chick flicks. But, a resolution is a resolution, and with a girl I know wanting to see The Notebook, off I went. Damn resolutions...I'm gonna resolve to steal a Ferrari next year or something...

The movie starts out in a nursing home of some sort, and an elderly man, "Duke" (Garner) on his way to his daily ritual of reading a story out of a notebook to an elderly woman, Allie. It's a story of young love and heartbreak, separation, moving on and all that crap. Of course, this story seems quite familiar to Allie...blah blah blah. If you've seen the trailer, you don't need Jedi-like foresight to figure out what's going to happen here.

This flick borrows from so many different movies it's not even worth mentioning a few. There is the "from two different worlds" element, with the rich girl and poor boy falling in love, despite the rich parents dissaproval. There is a little bit of the war/"I'm never going to see him/her again" aspect, somewhat taken from Cold Mountain and many other movies. Plus we get different bits of 50 First Dates/Memento and sappy elements from so many chick flicks I can't even begin to count. It almost seems as if the title alludes to novelist Nicholas Sparks' notes on different flicks he's watched, which, in turn, resulted in his novel this movie is based on. I haven't read the novel, so I don't know how faithful the movie is to the book, but it doesn't matter. This movie just doesn't have anything going for it, as far as originality is concerned. True, there are some interesting little twists that in the context of the movie are well-done. But the twists themselves have, again, been done many times before.

The movie does have a few good things going for it, though, and they are mainly from the performances. Ryan Gosling, a relative newcomer best known for his role in the underrated Murder by Numbers, gives a fine performance in his first true leading role as Noah. He's very diverse, portraying the high's of his affection for Allie and the low's of his dull, morose life after their separation. Rachel McAdams, another newcomer fresh off shadowing Lindsey Lohan in Mean Girls, does a great job also as Allie. She is wonderful at showing both sides of her persona: the free-spirit when with Noah, and slightly reserved socialite when with new beau Lon (Marsden). James Garner does a very nice job as "Duke" and Gena Rowlands is superb as the elderly Allie. And Joan Allen does a fantastic job as Allie's mean-spirited Mom, as well.

But, acting aside, there is nothing else really redeeming about this movie. The script was written by Jeremy Leven, whose dicey resume should be a warning sign anyway (See: Alex and Emma, Crazy as Hell, whatever the hell that is). I suppose he should be given credit for being consistently predictable, and putting old twists in different contexts. The dialogue, for the most part, isn't too bad also, but you can see everything coming 86 miles away. And it seemed he couldn't decide where to end this flick either. There are a few different spots that could've easily served as a decent ending, but he kept going and going, trying to squeeze as much, pardon the pun, sap out of the proverbial tree as humanly possible. Sure, there are a few purely touching moments, but overall, the material has been used so much before that it took everything out of it.

Director Nick Cassavettes, son of actor/filmmaker John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, doesn't too bad a job at the helm here. It's a very colorful film (literally) and he uses some beautiful sets. The problem is I couldn't really focus on his work because the story was so bothersome. Still, this movie won't help him to break through his streak of mediocrity (See: John Q, She's So Lovely).

The Notebook is a movie about love conquering all, and all that crap. The girls will dry their eyes, while the guys will roll theirs. The acting and directing are well-done, but it's an incredibly predictable, unoriginal and dull yarn that should've stayed on the page rather than on the screen.