Synopsis for
Nights in Rodanthe (2008) More at IMDbPro »

While picking up his son and daughter for a weekend visit, Jack (Christopher Meloni) tells his estranged wife Adrienne (Diane Lane) that he wants to move back home. Adrienne says she needs time and space to think. It is made clear that Jack left his family for another woman.

Adrienne drives to Rodanthe, North Carolina to a friend's bed-and-breakfast for the weekend. The house is rustic, romantic and right on the beach.

There is only one guest for the weekend, Paul (Richard Gere), a surgeon who arrives at the inn with his own emotional baggage. He has flashbacks of a surgery which ended tragically. The family of the patient, who live in Rodanthe, is suing him.

A storm moves in and the two team up to protect the inn. They dine together, share stories and eventually turn to each other for emotional comfort. A genuine romance is born. With Adriennes advice and moral support Paul opens up to the patients widower and in doing so faces his own pain.

Paul very reluctantly leaves Adrienne and Rodanthe to fly to South America where his estranged son Mark (James Franco) lives and practices medicine. Paul carries guilt for passing up a relationship with his son in favor of his career.

During their separation Adrienne and Paul exchange numerous handwritten letters expressing their longing to be with each other once again. Unfortunately, Paul is killed in a flash mudslide before he is able to be with her again. Mark arrives at Adrienne's door with the tragic news, a box of Paul's personal belongings and gratitude to Adrienne for giving him back his father.

Adrienne ultimately is left all alone with her nearly unbearable grief. There is nobody else available to offer her solace and comfort.

She finally is granted a respite from her heart-rending sadness when, during a solitary sojourn along the beach on a strikingly beautiful day, she looks up to see a small herd of magnificent wild horses go thundering on by her.