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The Rewatchables ·

The Notebook

year 2004decade 00sdirector Nick Cassavetesgenre Drama
host Juliet Litmanhost Amanda Dobbinshost Andrew Gruttadaro
All 14 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 7:33

The dock scene in the rain: 'why didn't you write me', 'it wasn't over, it still isn't over' and the kiss

Before any nominees, the question is whether a scene without both Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams can even make a case, such as Joan Allen taking Allie to see the boyfriend that never was; the answer is no, that belongs in a different category, so this is a Noah and Allie podcast, young Noah and Allie, with old Noah and Allie saved for later.

The first nominee is the first date: they lie down in the empty street, almost get hit by a car, then dance while Gosling hums 'I'll be seeing you'; it is called one of the more romantic movie scenes of the 21st century, the insistence on dancing is sweet, he is a trained dancer from the Mickey Mouse Club, and the scene is the purest expression of the chemistry that animates the movie.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:13:04

"If you're a bird, I'm a bird"

Many quotes were covered during the scene discussion, which is what makes them so good.

The film

The Notebook (2004)

Directed by Nick Cassavetes · Drama

123 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

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Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

7:33

Most Rewatchable Scene

The dock scene in the rain: 'why didn't you write me', 'it wasn't over, it still isn't over' and the kiss

The dock scene in the rain: 'why didn't you write me', 'it wasn't over, it still isn't over' and the kiss

In the discussion (19)
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:33Read transcript
  • Before any nominees, the question is whether a scene without both Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams can even make a case, such as Joan Allen taking Allie to see the boyfriend that never was; the answer is no, that belongs in a different category, so this is a Noah and Allie podcast, young Noah and Allie, with old Noah and Allie saved for later.
  • The first nominee is the first date: they lie down in the empty street, almost get hit by a car, then dance while Gosling hums 'I'll be seeing you'; it is called one of the more romantic movie scenes of the 21st century, the insistence on dancing is sweet, he is a trained dancer from the Mickey Mouse Club, and the scene is the purest expression of the chemistry that animates the movie.
  • Asked whether the scene works because of their chemistry or because of Ryan Gosling, the answer is both: they are really magnetic with each other, and McAdams's reactions and the way she plays off him in that scene are really good. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Her guffawing when they almost get hit by a car seems not to fit her character but makes it whole; her charm jumps off the screen, the role is written as feisty and she is the aggressive one, both characters keep catching each other on the back foot, so you watch them discovering each other in real time and the credit cannot all go to Gosling.
  • Gosling looks so young, more like his Remember the Titans character than at any other point, which he was fresh off; the next nominee is the montage of them falling in love that culminates on the beach with 'if you're a bird, I'm a bird'.
  • Asked where the bird scene ranks among tearjerkers, the answer is that it is up there: the weird conversation about being birds takes you aback and then turns out to be beautiful. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • The hosts remember having to explain 'if you're a bird, I'm a bird' to Chris Ryan; the movie got a second life on the Internet, like Mean Girls two months earlier, and the line became a meme, though for one host and her college roommates who watched it constantly it was already something they said to each other, and the movie became a thing partly because college kids who loved it then started using the internet.
  • Next nominee: Allie first arrives at the restored house, having come from Charleston, where both actors moved beforehand to get familiar with the city, which is read as very Canadian; she is awkward, he barely speaks, she tries to drive off and hits the fence and ends up staying; the clip is played, and this is the scene nominated, not the next-day scene.
  • The next-day scene follows: the blue dress she then wears for most of the movie, the birds, the rain, 'why didn't you write me', 'I wrote you every day for 365 days', building to 'it wasn't over, it still isn't over' and the kiss and sex in the house, the most famous scene from the movie; he catches her on an inhalation when he kisses her.
  • The choreography of the sex scene is elaborate, with confusion about why he keeps his pants on to walk upstairs, emphasis on stripping down one stocking at a time, and heavy blocking from the dock to their falling asleep; the heart of the movie rests on their chemistry here and they hit the fiery tone, though one host is distracted by how easily he pulls the boat out of the water.
  • They won Best Kiss at the MTV Movie Awards and reenacted the kiss on stage, where she wore a strapless bustier-type top and looked incredible, very 2005; the appearance came two years after they filmed the movie.
  • Next nominee: after the outing with her mom she returns flustered, they have their last big fight and he says 'I want all of you'; it is called the most powerful Ryan Gosling moment, the source code for what he becomes, and the start of his habit of yelling random words of emphasis; he dominates the scene because she barely speaks, and the gregarious Noah of the opening never returns after the break, a thought parked for a later category.
  • Asked whether any nominee has been forgotten, the Ferris wheel is offered, and later it is confirmed as the only other one on the list. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • The Ferris wheel is good but happens too early in the movie to have been seen multiple times on cable; one host realised she had never seen the first five minutes or the opening credits with the man rowing a boat, so the objection is a technicality; the scene is up there but the passion has not been established yet.
  • Asked for a number one, the pick is 'it still isn't over': the most famous scene, but if you turn the movie on within twenty or thirty minutes of it you have to keep watching until you see it. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Asked for a most rewatchable scene, the answer is agreement that it is hardly an argument. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • A bad Alzheimer's joke compares the compulsion to keep watching with Allie's condition.
  • Another voice rides hard for the fight scene and has great affection for the first date, called the most romantic five minutes of cinema of the past two decades, but in terms of rewatchability it is 'it still isn't over'.
  • The vote is conceded two to one.
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21:38

What’s Aged the Best?

The sex scene

The sex scene

In the discussion (17)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:38Read transcript
  • The obvious one is the chemistry between Gosling and McAdams, astonishing and all-time, and partly luck since the casting had to be right; it makes the hosts sad they are no longer together, and Gosling told GQ after the breakup that women yelled at him on the street for breaking up with her because of this movie.
  • Movies like this raise the question of whether acting is real or whether magic moments are just captured on camera; the half-assed research spills early: the two did not like each other on set and fought a lot, a big blowout reportedly made things better, and he seemed to arrive ready to be a serious actor throwing fastballs that she threw right back.
  • The Nick Cassavetes part is a weird movie for him to make and the best he has made; his credits include She's So Lovely, a much darker love triangle, John Q, Alpha Dog and The Other Woman with a Kate Upton performance called a historical moment.
  • Gina Rollins (as transcribed) is his mom, as the son of Gina Rollins and John Cassavetes, and an anecdote has James Garner breaking up when the director called 'okay, mom, action'; he is the star of the DVD extras and the source of the trivia cited later, and he gets immense credit for casting McAdams and Gosling after a long search for her.
  • Rachel McAdams in general: so good, looks amazing, an incredible performance; asked to choose between Allie and Regina George, one host picks Regina George as the historical, impactful one while loving this performance and her wavy hair.
  • Asked which role is preferred, the performance caught this viewer a little off guard on rewatch; Regina George is the more iconic character but it is hard to say, and Allie might be liked more. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Allie seems like a better hang and really fun, loves to swim, with so much of the opening montage spent jumping into water, though she is a little fungible, whereas Regina is strong in her convictions even when they are suspect.
  • Incorporating Charleston is nominated because Charleston in 2019 is really having a moment. — Juliet Litman
  • The counter puts Charleston under what aged worst: there is too much plantation stuff, everyone in a service role, nurse or household staff, is black, which is glaring and uncomfortable now, a bizarre choice especially at the retirement home, where the one white person is a male doctor.
  • The movie is a period piece: set in the 40s, so the costumes and references never age, which works fifteen years later; there are almost no references beyond the war, Walt Whitman and the cotton trade.
  • The structure is really good: whatever one thinks of the dementia plot or the writing in the notebook itself, which seems terrible with respect to Ali Hamilton, the pacing keeps you in young Noah and Ali's world so that you forget James Garner and Gina Rollins (as transcribed) until halfway, and by the time you learn who they are you are invested enough to buy a ridiculous device; one host could not even work out what the notebook was.
  • Asked about the old-people side, the device is appreciated, but by the time it is revealed that they are them it loses its power. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • You realise it is her when she plays the piano and him much later; nobody remembers first finding out, possibly spoiled, yet it still makes one host cry at the end; producer Craig is cited as loving the old people, the framing gives gravitas to the younger story, and nobody can imagine reading the Nicholas Sparks novel, so it is an achievement.
  • Asked what else has aged well, the offer is maybe James Marsden's inclusion. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Marsden is a really good hit, not really famous when the movie came out, who went on to be a rom-com guy and now a guy who dies in sci-fi movies.
  • It starts his career as the other guy, the passed-over guy, but the movie makes you root for Lon and feel bad for him, putting him with Dempsey in Sweet Home Alabama, Karen on The Office and just below Keanu in Something's Gotta Give, where Diane Keaton should have chosen Keanu Reeves.
  • Deciding, the hosts first propose the old-people device, then remember the chemistry, and settle on giving it to the sex scene described at length earlier, so the chemistry wins in the form of that scene; other nominees were McAdams's performance, Charleston, the period setting, the old-people structure and Marsden's inclusion; a joke proposes a video bonus breaking down the choreography on a telestrator.
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32:19

What’s Aged the Worst?

The portrayal of race

The portrayal of race

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:19Read transcript
  • The way race is portrayed is horrific; the wartime scenes could have been cut, since showing Kevin Connolly dying in battle was unnecessary; the portrayal of Sarah Lawrence College is a weird, unnecessary transition.
  • The portrayal of dementia is on the list: there is something to periods of lucidity in Alzheimer's, as in the medical-drama arc where Meredith's mother briefly becomes lucid, but the movie does not accurately represent how long it lasts or whether it can be induced.
  • Willing yourselves into death together is another weird one, with shades of Titanic's couple going down together in bed; other light Titanic influences are Jack telling Rose she will die an old lady warm in her bed, and 'you jump, I jump' echoing 'if you're a bird, I'm a bird'; all the medical stuff fails against the winds of time.
  • Joan Allen's mother portrayal is held for another category, but one host finds it accurate to the time, since in the 40s you did not get to marry who you wanted.
  • Asked for more things that aged badly, Allie's dad is nominated. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Allie's dad: the mustache, extremely Southern, basically Colonel Sanders, a throwaway, unrealized character who is supposed to be intimidating and unnecessarily harsh yet isn't; the all-white party dinner is very Titanic, and he is inferior to the other dad, the great Sam Shepard.
  • Addressed by name for anything else, the nomination is Kevin Connolly in this movie. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Kevin Connolly's lowest moment is his death, dead and still bad at acting; Entourage was a thing and he may have been the most famous person in the cast at the time, but the choice has aged poorly as Entourage and his role in it downgraded; Martha Shaw is also raised as rough.
  • Agreeing that Martha Shaw is rough, the feeling is simply of being really bad for her. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Martha Shaw is nevertheless a realistic portrayal of an emotionally unavailable man; she takes it too well, inviting Allie to dinner, and there is no reason for Allie to join except to punish herself; Martha mostly serves as a vehicle for Noah to show what a good guy he is.
  • Asked why Martha Shaw is on the list, the answer is that Noah basically treats her like garbage. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • The supposedly heartwarming meeting of new girlfriend and ex comes off weird and does not show Noah is a good guy; one host had rewritten Martha in her head as a single mother to make her more tragic, when she is just a widow.
  • The final pick is the whole Southern race aspect of the movie. — Amanda Dobbins
  • The final pick is Kevin Connolly. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Another voice has Kevin Connolly as runner-up and goes with race as well, plus the treatment of dementia and Alzheimer's, also in the running.
  • Earlier, while on what aged best, Charleston's plantation imagery and the all-black service roles, including at the retirement home, were already filed under what aged worst.
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44:32

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Joan Allen, James Garner or James Marsden

Joan Allen, James Garner or James Marsden

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:32Read transcript
  • Nominees are Joan Allen, Gina Rollins (as transcribed) and James Garner, with honorable mention to Sam Shepard, who is barely in the movie but charming and a clear link to Gosling's Noah, and James Marsden added.
  • Asked to make a case, it is Joan Allen, throwing heaters as an extremely Southern mom, especially her reading of 'Sarah Lawrence is in New York'. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • The Sarah Lawrence exchange is played; she is hilarious as a Southern lady and brings the evil-parent vibe that spices up the movie, an evil parent who then tries to redeem herself by sharing her own story.
  • Asked to make a case, it is James Garner, because he pretty much carries the old-people plot, which is hard, and is very charming; Jeanette Rollins (as transcribed) does good work but her part is not fun. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Rowlands's character is supposed to be confused the whole time, while Garner carries the narrative and emotional thrust and plays it straight enough that you do not know who he is.
  • A case is made for James Marsden: delightful and likable, beginning the James Marsden good-guy saga in a role where likability is hard; Lon Hammond Jr. of the Cotton Hammonds gets a bad rap and is not evil just because he has money; his hotel room line is saved for best quote, he is a charmer showing up at her school, and his bravado works even in a full body cast; the speaker also confesses a weakness for Marsden as Cyclops.
  • No pick is made; there are just a lot of great Dion Waiters performances in this movie.
  • Later, during the overacting award, Joan Allen is argued to be a bit of a heat check, and the hosts debate the award's definition: a Dion Waiters heat check is not necessarily good but is 'wow, she's really going for it'; nobody has ever understood whether it is doing the most with the least, and the standing rule from Bill is that it is doing the most with the least, which is why one voice gives it to James Garner, interpreted positively, even though that differs from the hot-hand sense.
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51:14

Apex Mountain

Nick Cassavetes; Nicholas Sparks; Rachel McAdams

Nick Cassavetes; Nicholas Sparks; Rachel McAdams

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:14Read transcript
  • Beyond Rachel McAdams, cases are made for Nick Cassavetes and Nicholas Sparks, the two Nicks, and accepted; Sparks has made an industry off this movie's success.
  • Asked what would compel reading a Nicholas Sparks book, the answer is a lot of money, probably the only thing. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Asked the same, the answer is that the gist comes through from the movies and there are enough Southern or beach authors already on the list. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Nicholas Sparks recently got in trouble for bigoted remarks in an email and apologized; it comes through in this movie, which does not make his books necessary reading.
  • To one host this is absolutely McAdams's Apex Mountain, more than Mean Girls, for her charm and infectious energy; but the standing rule from Bill is that Apex Mountain is not subjective, it is about the point in the career, so the hosts do the objective peak first and an emotional assessment after.
  • The objective peak argued is Wedding Crashers, the big movie after Mean Girls and The Notebook; a wedding-crashers joke doubles as a Red Eye joke; she may not have capitalized on the moment but came back with an Oscar nomination for Spotlight and Morning Glory, a great 21st-century rom-com on Hulu.
  • Asked for her objective apex, the answer is The Notebook, because the one-two punch of Mean Girls followed by The Notebook shows two sides of Rachel McAdams killing both roles. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • A third voice also goes with The Notebook, making it two of three for this film over the Wedding Crashers argument, conceding Wedding Crashers is undeniable movies-wise, because the real-life relationship made them celebrities and they were dating by the time Wedding Crashers came out in summer 2005; the MTV kiss recreation is floated as her apex moment.
  • In the Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts sense of turning acting parts into celebrity, the moment is a soaring high for her and Gosling together; subjectively The Notebook is one host's personal McAdams apex, especially on rewatch, and she was that host's winner of the movie.
  • She is so skinny in this movie, perhaps too skinny; the clothes are great and flattering, the kind of 40s things you would see in Brooklyn now, which should have gone under what aged best as part of the period-piece idea.
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55:55

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Kevin Connolly

Kevin Connolly

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:55Read transcript
  • Nobody remembers what the Joey Pants Award is until Craig reminds them it is for the that-guy in the movie; it has to go to Kevin Connolly, though he was not a that-guy at the time, only a 2019 that-guy.
  • In some ways the that-guy is Gina Rollins (as transcribed), around so long yet vaguely familiar rather than well known to this generation; one host's notes just called Connolly 'E' throughout, and he will always be E, so it is surprising he is not married to Emmanuel Shrieky (as transcribed) in real life; he once dated Nikki Hilton.
  • Paul Johansson is another candidate: so random a cameo that he must have had lines cut, and he probably filmed it conveniently just before One Tree Hill started shooting in Carolina.
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57:10

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Joan Allen

Joan Allen

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:10Read transcript
  • It has got to be Joan Allen, though she was also placed under what aged worst and argued as a heat check.
  • Asked to make the case, a Dion Waiters heat check is not necessarily a good thing, but it is 'wow, she's really going for it'. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • Given the floor for critical things about Joan Allen: in the wedding-dress scene with fifteen anonymous women with terrible Southern accents, she leans into the scheming Southern mom, 'society event of the year', with her thickest accent and a shoulder shimmy, and it does not work; she brings home the emotional stuff at the end, but the shallow Southern mom of the first half is a bit much. — Amanda Dobbins
  • At the dance with the offensively stereotypical, largely black brass band she must have a dance double, since she does full leg kicks.
  • Asked whether the dance scene seemed odd, all of it works for this viewer, who is on board with evil Joan Allen. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • The band leader is Oba Babatunde (as transcribed), the ousted principal in season three of Dawson's Creek, filmed around the same time, another Carolina connection and a WB that-guy who does not count for normal people.
  • Kevin Connolly is also totally doing too much, but Joan Allen is the third or fourth biggest lead and it is hard to make a case for anyone else; she is a wonderful actress, excellent recently on Broadway in The Waverly Gallery, but not channeling that energy here.
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1:13:38

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Yes, as a ten-episode Netflix series weighted about 80 percent young Noah and Allie to 20 percent old

Yes, as a ten-episode Netflix series weighted about 80 percent young Noah and Allie to 20 percent old

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:38Read transcript
  • Yes: show the full house renovation on a proper timeline; the preferred ratio is about 80 percent young to 20 percent old, a Princess Bride situation.
  • Asked, that ratio sounds right, as long as the chemistry between the actors playing Noah and Ali is as good. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • The chemistry has to be Gosling-and-McAdams level or the series does not work, ideally with unknowns as they basically were, although at release Gosling was a that-guy, known to one host from running home from school to watch Breaker High.
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1:18:08

Who Won the Movie?

Rachel McAdams or Ryan Gosling

Rachel McAdams or Ryan Gosling

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:08Read transcript
  • One answer is Rachel McAdams, already much loved in this movie and so good; the case for Gosling is that he gets the best lines, since all the quotes are his, but he would not be this great without her, a performance in reaction, watching chemistry like science; she is the dynamic force.
  • Asked to fight back, Gosling is the one setting the tone for the relationship and she has to hit the balls back; she fully matches him, but another actor who would not go to this place would not give us this relationship. — Andrew Gruttadaro
  • They are so well matched that neither would be who they are without the other; the host who picked McAdams holds that she steals it with her charisma but it is really a perfect pair.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Rachel McAdams
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