Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2463 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-02-09
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Subtitled in: Italian, English, Arabic, Hebrew, Icelandic
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The sparks between Richard Gere and Diane Lane--so memorable in Unfaithful--smolder again in the sweepingly romantic Nights in Rodanthe. Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, the film is unapologetically sentimental, and enjoyable completely on its own terms, a small gem of an escape, complete with storm-tossed coastline. Lane plays Adrienne, a wronged wife whose husband (Christopher Meloni) was a heel, but begs for another chance. She goes to clear her head at a remote North Carolina inn, where the sole occupant is Paul, a doctor, played by Gere, who is battling his own demons. If the writing is on the wall about what will become of our two leading actors, it's to Lane's and Gere's deep credit that they make their tentative connection, wariness, and growing feelings human and quite believable. Love is messy, and grownup love, even more so. As they get to know each other, Adrienne shows Paul a small wooden box that holds her keepsakes: "I made it to keep special things safe." Paul turns to her, looking her squarely but gently in the eye, and says, "What keeps you safe?" At that moment, every woman watching the film is in the palm of his hand. The film squarely addresses the reality that people over age 25 do, in fact, yearn for, and find, love. If only more studios would realise the deep, appreciative audience for films like this. --A.T. Hurley

DVD Description
In Nights in Rodanthe, Oscar nominee Diane Lane stars as Adrienne Willis, a woman with her life in chaos, who retreats to the tiny coastal town of Rodanthe, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to tend to a friend's inn for the weekend. Here she hopes to find the tranquility she so desperately needs to rethink the conflicts surrounding her-- a wayward husband who has asked to come home, and a teenage daughter who resents her every decision. Almost as soon as Adrienne gets to Rodanthe, a major storm is forecast and a guest named Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) arrives. The only guest at the inn, Flanner is not on a weekend escape but rather is there to face his own crisis of conscience. Now, with the storm closing in, the two turn to each other for comfort and, in one magical weekend, set in motion a life-changing romance that will resonate throughout the rest of their lives.

Synopsis
From MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE to THE NOTEBOOK, cinematic adaptations of Nicholas Sparks's novels are sure to inspire tears, and this drama should be no exception. Diane Lane and Richard Gere, who previously played a couple in UNFAITHFUL, star here as an unhappily married woman and a conflicted man drawn together by a storm in the town of Rodanthe, North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Quite lovely, actually
I'm 29, and I have to admit, it was so refreshing seeing a beautifully told love story for people of an older generation. There seems to be this taboo surrounding it where, upon turning 40 or so, people no longer need to feel loved, and are no longer capable of experiencing love that gives you butterflies and knocks your feet from under you and leaves you poleaxed. This film puts paid to that in short order.

Nicholas Sparks is the father of romance - a lone male voice in amongst a sea of oestrogen - and he has a way of creating epic love that puts you right there with the people feeling it. Film adaptations don't really live up to the standard of the book (the only exception being, perhaps, The Notebook another of Sparks's [a film of such power and beauty I don't even know the words to describe it]) but Nights in Rodanthe comes close - with one complaint.

Adrienne and Paul (Diane Lane and Richard Gere respectively, last seen together in Unfaithful) fall in love over the space of a weekend while alone in an inn that sits right on the beach. The cinematography is *stunning*: it's all washed out blues and bleached skies; bleak foamy seas and desolate sand dunes and long peppermint grasses being whipped about by the wind. The world created is insular and beautiful and mirrors their loneliness, and as they hold onto each other mid-storm, you can certainly see how deeply romantic the it is.

Add to that, both characters are going through difficult times, and both desperately need to be brought back to life; they both need to meet someone they could love... and yet, somehow the chemistry isn't quite there. Equally, the film isn't long enough to really make the depth of their love credible. I absolutely believe we can fall in love quickly - instantly, even. But it takes time for that love to flourish and to put down roots, and Adrienne and Paul go from being strangers to soul-mates in the space of 20 minutes or so, as both the build-up and "epilogue" are lengthier.

Something else Nicholas Sparks is a master at is heart-rending finalés, and this is no different. When Paul leaves the inn to work with sick children in Southern America (with his estranged son, played by James Franco of Spiderman fame) he and Arienne communicate by sending letters, and it's this old fashioned type of love that Sparks makes real. No emails or texts, no txt spk and "lols", but hand-written letters full of declarations and honesty. The problem is, this segment is done almost entirely in montage format so, again, it misses a huge (much needed) opportunity to drive home that these 2 people were created with the sole purpose of meeting and loving one another. Nevertheless, when tragedy strikes, it's genuinely painful, and the performances are completely mesmerising from everyone involved.

So while its power to affect is undeniable, and it's a gorgeous film to look at, the lack of exploration and depth means this is only a 4-star film where it so easily could have have been 5. But it is still highly recommended viewing - best watched with chocolates, girly friends and several boxes of tissues.

fabulous book and dvd...a must buy
This is a brilliant film and Richard Gere and Diane Lane give wonderful performances in this adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks book. Its a story that really makes you think...and we should all make as much of opportunities when they come our way. Beautiful story and a film to watch over and over again.

A very enjoyable film
I watched this movie on a flight, which is a rarity for me and I was so captivated by the story that it made the trip pass very quickly. It is no great masterpiece but it is very well done and I found it to be a very touching story. It is one of the few films that I would bother to watch again, some time in the future when I have forgotton the details. It is well worth a watch, you will probably really enjoy it.