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Nights in Rodanthe (2008) More at IMDbPro »

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42 out of 52 people found the following comment useful :-
Not entirely successful but not a bomb, 29 September 2008

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States

Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere), a successful surgeon, has his wife leave him, his son (an uncredited James Franco) not respect him and looses a patient he's operating on. Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) has two children and discovers her husband has cheated on her. They both need to get away. She watches over a beautiful oceanside inn in Rodanthe at the same time he books a room. They're all alone together. You can pretty much figure out the rest.

This is what's known as a weepie or a woman's film. It's beautifully shot with a romantic setting and lots of quiet scenes. There's tragedy, romance, more tragedy and an uplifting ending (sort of). The great acting by Gere and Lane helps disguise the fact that this film isn't really about much. Every single bit of the plot is predictable. I rolled my eyes a lot at some of the events. Also it's far too short--I didn't believe the romance between Gere and Lane for a second. If comes out of nowhere and moves VERY quickly. Still the movie does work. The inn itself is absolutely gorgeous and I was in tears by the end along with most of the audience. So it's a predictable but gorgeous movie with some wonderful acting. It doesn't deserve all the criticism it's getting. I give it a 7.

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46 out of 68 people found the following comment useful :-
Stunk, 29 September 2008

Author: driether from United States

I like all different types of movies, so this is not a bash on romantic movies from a guy who only likes The Matrix etc etc.

I just felt it was a lousy movie. I don't feel that there was enough buildup of the characters to fall in love. They were there for a few days and while dealing with a severe hurricane and major issues in each of their lives, Richard Gere and Diane Lane fall hopelessly and helplessly in love?? It isn't realistic. This movie didn't make me buy into it and feel it emotionally and that is something that you look for in a good plot. Some emotional connection. If someone can relate to them falling in love that quickly, without any true substance , than so be it. You are neither right or wrong. Different strokes for different folks.

Another very unbelievable component to the movie was Diane Lane's very rude teenage daughter becoming nice and sympathetic at the end of the movie. Does a teenage girl who is that miserable and aggravated at her mother for not getting back with her cheating husband going to just have a switch turn on and be nice? This movie, in a nutshell, had some big names, but to me, was a major disappointment.

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42 out of 63 people found the following comment useful :-
It's a nice romantic film, Diane and Richard make it watchable, 27 September 2008

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

Oh, my friend was just dying to see Nights in Rodanthe, I'm convinced she is absolutely in love with Richard Gere, not to mention she just loves romantic movies, so Richard Gere and romance? It's a no brainer, she just had to see this movie, guess who she begged to go with her? Yeah, me, I didn't really want to see it though, it looked too sappy for my tastes, but we got to see it for free, so I figured to just go ahead and give it a fair chance. Well, we saw it today, it was a little better than I expected, which is saying plenty. After seeing the movie Unfaithful, I really wasn't into the whole Diane and Richard being back together on screen, but for some reason they made this story more enjoyable. Even though it was predictable, it was a sweet movie, I hate the sappy movies, despite it's sappiness that I normally resent, it's still a nice movie and was just a breath of fresh air due to the recent movies that we're getting that are either thrillers, comedies, or action.

Adrienne Willis is a divorced mother of two who's ex-husband is begging to come back home after a nasty affair he had with one of her friends. She's debating on it since her children want them back together and she feels it should be that way. But when her friend leaves her to run her house on the beach that she rents out to people, Adrienne meets Paul Flanner, a doctor who has had a rough year after loosing a patient on a routine surgery, he's staying in the house with Adrienne. Loosing themselves has been so hard, but when they're together they find themselves once again and bring life back into their world realizing it's OK to be in love once more.

Nights in Rodanthe is a nice movie to watch... more so I'd say for either a rental or a matinée, I was more impressed with it than I thought I would be, but it does get predictable, which I hate to say I've just been seeing nothing but predictable films lately. Maybe I should start writing scripts if this is all it takes, I could write a number one movie maybe, wish me luck. But back onto the movie, it has decent acting and does give you watery eyes. It's a nice movie to watch, gives you a little smile and reminds you of the sweeter things in life. Richard and Diane made this movie enjoyable and were lovely on-screen together, it's worth the watch.

6/10

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43 out of 70 people found the following comment useful :-
Thank you, Ms Lane, 1 October 2008

Author: aharmas from United States

Oh yes! Hollywood does remember how to use the good old formula, and when lightning hits, it's a rather wonderful feeling. Rarely Hollywood creates a masterpiece because lately, there seems to be more concern with hurrying up and getting the most rewards in a hurried manner, or there is the matter of too many cooks in the mix. Usually good screenplays are the result of a talented writer who is in full control of his/her property, understand his material and is a good writer. Then, there is a little important part, often neglected by the marketing geniuses that so often lack creativity and vision: a good actor.

A good actor can make the difference between a mediocre, half-cooked try, and a fully realized film that might not be an important and relevant movie, but one that contributes to its genre and might eventually become a classic of its type. We get very few romantic comedies, and we are people who are starved for them. Buried in the sexy humor of "Sex in the City" is the romantic, yet stormy relationship of Big and Carrie, and people flocked to "Mamma Mia" because it had some romance, skillfully played by Streep and Brossnam. It could have a silly musical, but it did touch us because it was played with intensity and conviction. "Nights" offers us more of it, with the amazing talents of a woman who does magnificent work in romantic films, Ms. Diane Lane. Ever since her days as a child actor, we could appreciate how her talent, combined with her appreciative soul allowed us to see into the hearts of the story's protagonists. A few years back, she teamed up with Mr. Gere, giving us a tormented, romantic, and sexy performance as the wife who is not too sure of her actions' consequences in "Unfaithful", work that should have garnered her at least an Academy Award. She is back, doing more formidable work in this romantic gem as a woman who has given up on her romantic prospects, and suddenly she realizes there might be another chance around the corner.

Ms. Lane makes this film pulsate with intelligence and passion. Her facial expressions communicate volumes about the different emotions her character undergoes. We can read frustrations, yearnings, desperation, anger, hope, loss, and a range that is way out reach for a lot of the marketable types that Hollywood constantly push down our throats. Here is a mature performer who has the gift to project real emotions and allows us to connect with the material in such a way that we are moved as we become part of the experience.

Ms. Lane is such a triumphant joy to watch as she goes through transformations from the first scenes of the film until the very end. Her discoveries become ours as we celebrate with her the power of hope and love. She is able to bring back the unsurpassed joy of a person in love, much like a teenager does, and yet she never lets you think of her character as silly or irresponsible. Her eyes are expressive gems that can move even the cynical in the audience. She is one of the stars that can do wonders with just one look. In her the classic feel of those grand movies of yesterday are back. Her work recalls the passionate and intelligent work of Hepburn, Davis, Garson, women who played everyday types and made them memorable because they created complete characters.

We admire those superb actresses who recreate real life legends and are rewarded for it. Half their work is done by the mystique of the figures they impersonate; however as much as anyone might make you think, it is the roles such as Lane's in this movie that are a more impressive achievement because they are created from scratch, given a personal imprint and are able achieve heights without any previous theatrical material support, such as plays, and the background of a famous legend whose life is paid tribute on the silver screen. Lane's character is one woman whose experiences could be any of us. She represents our dreams and emotions with much quality, class, and just the right amount of sentiment. It is quite a remarkable achievement, and we should be grateful that we are still able to find such a remarkable performance nowadays.

There are a few adjectives I could use to pay tribute to her work, but I can only say that in my humble opinion every single frame of her work in this film is testament to one of the greatest performances ever put on celluloid by a living performer. Thank you, Ms. Lane.

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23 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Who Cares, 7 October 2008

Author: mathieu_mcdonald-1 from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Let me get this straight:

"Hotshot plastic surgeon loses a patient on the operating table while removing a cyst from her face and ends up falling in love with recently separated bed and breakfast hostess within about 24 hours of meeting her due to her solid advice on bedside manner."

Wow. Move over "The Notebook", there's a new kid in town.

Where to begin. Well, how about the depth of this "relationship"? I think we can safely sum up the foundation of this undying love in the following steps:

1. Exchange polite pleasantries over a bite of salad. 2. Drink copious amounts of Jack Daniels; play basketball with old food 3. Provide glib, unsolicited advice to each other on your crappy lives. 4. Make love during a hurricane. 5. Devote your lives to each other via airmail.

I noticed George C Wolfe has "The Hairball" and "United Kanye West Project" in his dossier. Would "stick to your genre" be too harsh? Enough said. I think most would agree that the best love stories make us cry, or laugh or even hope. But the reason they are able to do that is that, somewhere during the storyline, we really start to care about the characters we're watching on screen. To make us care, there must be time spent developing these characters...their lives, their history, why we're watching them now. Wolfe didn't seem to want to "waste our time" with such trivialities, and instead provided us with all of about 8 minutes of background information on each character before hurling us into an intense one-on-one interaction between two ACTORS we've all come to adore, but two CHARACTERS we could care less about.

For one brief tender moment when Richard Gere exclaims that he doesn't expect her to listen to his problems, and she invites him for dinner, the viewer sees a glimmer - a beginning - of something special between these two characters. But instead of being allowed to enjoy the anticipation and playfulness of "what happens next" in the wonderful, unpredictable joy that is courtship, we are instead pushed headlong into a love affair between two people we hardly know.

Let's face it. We have all heard cheesy one liners in Romantic films. But the reason we cut some slack to Bogart in "Casablanca" or Nicholson in "Something's Gotta Give" is because our hearts and minds have been lifted to the heavens and dragged through the mud and back again with these characters, and by the time they deliver the line, we're so deeply involved with their plight, we don't even notice the cheese factor. Since Wolfe doesn't allow us to love or even like our protagonists, all we're left with a fromage sandwich and a few snickers in the audience.

Wolfe takes the old Hollywood director's phrase "cut to the chase" much too literally here. As each stilted one liner is delivered by our cast, the viewer is left wondering if director Wolfe is subliminally saying to the audience: "c'mon. it's a Richard Gere romance. just buy in."

It is as a result of this stunning lack of character - or relationship - development that the film's climax fails miserably to tug at our hearts. When Gere's character dies, I felt like I was watching the news about someone I didn't know passing away. Or watching a ladies' eights rowing race during the beijing olympics. Just. Didn't. Care.

Epic. Fail.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Disappointed, 28 September 2008

Author: jme_boyce from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If you read the book before seeing the movie you may be disappointed like I was. The book was great and I was sure after seeing the movie preview that the movie would be great as well, however I felt like I was watching a movie where the director and cast did not even read what these characters where like. The movie is short and they do not really ever make us feel that these people were truly in love and felt like sole mates. Even if the movie did not go in the same direction as the book at least they could of made the romance between these two characters feel more intense. I think both Diane Lane and Richard Gere were perfect for these two characters and they have good chemistry however they just did not develop a long enough storyline for us to see how they longed for each other. The book was true love story and I think this movie could of been a lot better.

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16 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Not so bad as some have suggested, 18 October 2008
Author: rogerdarlington from United Kingdom

Terrible title for a movie that is not nearly as terrible as some critics have suggested. At a time when there are so many romantic comedies aimed at young viewers, it's no bad thing to have the occasional romantic story that eschews humour and involves characters in middle age - think something along the lines of "Bridges Of Madison County" (both are based on novels).

The (goodlooking) stars are Richard Gere, as a doctor seeking to establish a new relationship with his estranged son in Latin America, and Diane Lane, a mother in a deeply unhappy marriage considering whether to abandon it. The (unusual) setting is the Outer Banks of North Carolina at a time of year when hurricanes are threatened. At times, it's a little silly and sentimental but still worth an evening in front of the television if not a visit to the cinema.

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11 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Worth my wait...., 5 October 2008

Author: hollyyybuggg07 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ever since they first came to the Outer Banks and filmed the movie (I have lived here my whole life), I have waited for this movie to come out. And I mean waited and waited and waited over a year and a half for this movie and to me, it was worth it.

The movie is different from the book but in my eyes, it's still a beautiful piece of work as is the book. In both I cried, there were moments that tore me up. I laughed and I smiled just as much. It's a great movie with a great story line.

It's about never giving up on finding that one, the one that will change you forever. The one that will shape your soul and awaken you to a whole new view of life.

I have to say that it is possible to meet someone and have them change your life forever, which is what Gere's character did to Lane's. I met the love of my life and at once was completely captivated that I never forgot him or how smitten I was with him until I 'met' him again a year later. For me I could relate to this movie with my whole heart. I think that if you listen and watch the movie with your heart and your hopes you'll see what I'm talking about. It's never too late to find your true love, great work Ms. Lane and Mr. Gere!

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
All the parts but not sum of the whole, 3 February 2009

Author: intelearts from the big screen

I personally think this is the most difficult genre to pull off - romance has to create some magical reality, and some plausibility: we have to believe it could , would happen to them and to us.

Nights partially succeeds in creating some atmosphere and some nice scenes but fails to ignite into magical.

Instead what we get is just too rushed and uses too many clichés - every scene feels like it came from somewhere else - and the sparks are somehow not fireworks but squibs.

It cannot decide whether to be gentle and meditative and mature, or to be unabashedly full-on.

All in all it will be a box office winner given the stars and the lack of other material of its kind - but really this is no classic.

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15 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
And who said romance is over???, 5 October 2008

Author: screenwriter-14 from United States

NIGHTS IN RODANTHE brings back to the screen two talented actors in Diane Lane and Richard Gere in a simply beautiful story of a man and a woman hungry for something more in their lives than they have at present. The chemistry between Lane and Gere is magical from the first scene in the film to their last embrace. The locations, beauty of their attraction for one another when it unfolds when they first meet, and the story that follows, and as they begin to know each other with the attraction they feel towards each other is real, is romance that is projected to an audience with tender care. James Franco in another micro role is just the right casting, and the elegance of Lane in combination with the beach house, is a true Fall 2008 film to remember forever, as was THE NOTEBOOK.

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