Warning: Major Spoilers
On Saturday, January 10th, I watched the movie The Notebook for the first time. This movie came out in 2004, and it graced my screen in the big 2026. In my opinion, this movie is a 10/10, so let me tell you why. This movie tells the story of two young lovers ripped apart by family and life. For seven years, the two didn’t forget each other, and even when Allie, one of the main characters, falls in love with her soon-to-be fiance but she still can't get Noah, the other main character, out of her mind. During these seven years, Noah builds the house he promised Allie the summer they fell in love. While Allie was trying on her wedding dress, she found out and couldn’t stop herself from seeing the house and Noah for herself.
When Allie goes back to Seabrook, where Noah lives, she finds Noah. It is clear that the love between the two of them never left. They talk about life and where it has taken them, and soon enough, the truth about why they lost contact is in the air. When Allie left the summer they fell in love, she expected Noah to write to her, but Allie’s mother was never fond of Noah and kept the letters from her. Noah wrote to Allie every single day for a year. Allie’s mom hid the 365 letters in order to keep Noah and Allie apart. Once the truth was out, everything that was left behind the summer they fell in love came flooding back. Noah and Allie are once again in love, but Allie has an important choice to make: leave her fiancé to be with Noah, or leave Noah to be with her fiancé. In the end, Allie chooses to stay with Noah, and they end up living long and happy lives-- also welcoming children into the world.
The movie is narrated by an old man reading this story to an old lady who has dementia. Throughout the story, we are brought back to the narrator and the old woman who we find out to be Allie. We also find out that the narrator is Noah, reading to Allie trying to remind her of the love that they had for each other with the story of their relationship. It’s clear that Allie and Noah are both having a hard time in their old age. In the movie, Allie remembers her life with Noah after hearing the story, but only for a short amount of time. Once her dementia gets hold of her again, she is sent into a panic that sends her to the hospital. Not only does Allie end up in the hospital, but Noah does as well due to heart problems. While they are both in the hospital, Noah finds Allie, who has her memory. Noah cuddles up next to her, and Allie asks Noah if he thought their love could take them away together. Noah says he thinks their love could do anything. Finally, we learn that Noah and Allie die in each other's arms peacefully in the night.
The story of Noah and Allie is heartwarming and gut-wrenching. While in the end, Allie had her complications and Noah had to live with her like that, he still chose to love her just as much as he did when they first fell in love. Not only did he love her, he helped her remember their story and who she was. While in the end they did end up dying, they died knowing the love they had for each other. They died in the arms of the person they loved. Love isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. In Noah and Allie’s story, that is very evident. However, knowing that they both loved one another made their love stronger. This movie brings many to tears, including me, because it shows the reality of learning to love one another and growing old together. It also portrayed the idea that love can last a lifetime.
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