Nights in Rodanthe - Read the Book
And that’s not a diss against the film either; just an observation. Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed Nights in Rodanthe, the film based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. But, I enjoyed it primarily because I had read the book and I understood the story, the background of the characters, the plot lines.
The film brings Diane Lane and Richard Gere together again. Remember the last time they shared the spotlight? It was in the adultress drama Unfaithful in 2002. Lane and Gere have great chemistry on-screen and at least in Rodanthe their story is about true love rather than marital distress.
Gere plays Dr. Paul Flanner, a world-renown plastic surgeon, who after leading an intensely demanding life in that arena, decides to give it all up to travel to a third world country to reconnect with his son but not before making a stop in Rodanthe, North Carolina, the tiny town on the Outer Banks to make a mends with a patient’s family, a patient who died on the operating table. Lane, plays Adrienne Willis, a 40-something mother of two who has her own issues to deal with, namely a cheating husband who realizes the error of his ways and wants to “come home”, a teenage daughter who doesn’t understand why her mother doesn’t want him to, and her own insecurities as a woman. To help a friend, and partly to escape the crisis that is her life, she agrees to take care of the friend’s Bed and Breakfast in Rodanthe for the weekend. Adrienne and Dr. Paul’s world’s collide leaving everything to chance and setting into motion a romance of a lifetime but one that leaves you crying at the end.
Yes, gentlemen, it’s a typical chick flick but one that is written in the beauty that is Nicholas Sparks. Screenwriters, Ann Peacock and John Romano, do an excellent job of adapting a beautifully written novel into the screenplay it becomes. The only real flaw -for those that live in North Carolina, we see a few discrepencies within the scenery. The wild horses aren’t in Rodanthe but are rather up on the northern tier of the Outer Banks and with Gere’s character coming from Raleigh, there isn’t a reason to take a ferry to the part of the Banks in which he visits. But, if you look beyond that and see the story behind the scenery, you realize it’s a beautiful love story and so much the reason critics have called it “This year’s The Notebook” (also written by Sparks).
I read the book and I enjoyed the film. I’ll probably add it to my DVD collection too.
I give Nights in Rodanthe
and 3/4 reels
Until next time, see YOU at the movies!
Lisa 
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I found the movie a bit predictable. I love Diane Lane. She is perhaps my favorite actress. However, I thought the plot was entirely predictable and dull. My wife is a Nicholas Sparks fan, so we went to opening night. The theater was packed. I never saw so much blue hair in one place in my life. People applauded the NC scenes. There were some obvious errors in the filming of the beach road scenes, but hey, it’s Hollywood. Anyway, the movie was blah and predictable but Diane Lane was perhaps at her best.