Nights in Rodanthe

This movie would be a huge blow to Nicholas Sparks’ fans. Judging by the poster, you’d think you’ll be watching a real heartbreaking, touching love story but who would have thought that Nicholas Sparks + Richard Gere + Diane Lane = one of the shallowest romantic movies ever made!  I didn’t believe  it either.

After A Moment To Remember and The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks is hailed as the romantic tearjerker. However Nights at Rodanthe is a disgrace to his title. I’m not too sure whether the problems lies in the story itself or whether the emotions got lost in the process of adapting the novel into script and screen. The plot runs so predictably, it becomes such a bore.  Nights at Rodanthe is a story about two divorcees, Paul (Richard Gere) and Adrienne (Diane Lane), who meet each other at Rodanthe. It’s a Bed and Breakfast by the beach and they are the only two souls around. Obviously there’s nothing else for them to do but to fall in love.  I coud not stand Adrienne. She is a nosey, temperament and selfish person. There is a scene when Paul is talking to Robert Torrelson (Scott Glenn)about personal and sensitive stuff, she just snoops. She judges Paul for his every action and then screams her advice to him. She stops doing that only after she makes love to him. So we know all along she’s just deprived of affection and desperate. The movies only runs for about one and a half hour and it leaves so many rooms for criticism. The lack of emotions and hollowness of the movie just makes it totally pointless.

Let me try to sum it up: First few minutes was draggy, then it gets better, suddenly hurricane comes and turns the movie into a horror flick. Once the hurricanes is over it’s mundane all the way until an abrupt but expected twist and the ending which leaves audience wondering “what the heck???”.

Couples looking for romantic film should avoid it. If I were on a date, watching this movie would make it a bad date. But whether you’re on a date or not, it’s still bad. Real bad.

Mel says: 2.5/10