Nights in Rodanthe (Movie Review)

Movie Review
Nights in Rodanthe
Dir. George C. Wolfe
Starring: Richard Gere, Diane Lane
Runtime: 1:37

There are perfect movies where after watching them you feel that any other film that you watch afterwards will pale in comparison. Unfortunately, George C. Wolfe’s Nights in Rodanthe is not one of those films. It is one of those films that even an elementary school student can nitpick both poor editing and directing choices as well as physical mistakes (like a dry car even though it had it’s window open after a hurricane). There are some things that had been added/removed would have still kept the spirit of the film but made the film far more enjoyable that it was.

The story is very formulaic. Adrian (Diane Lane) is taking a couple of days to escape from her frantic life. Her estranged husband wants to reconcile and she’s looking for a couple of days of relaxation alone at her friend’s seaside inn. There is only one other guest, Paul (Richard Gere), who himself is looking to run away from his problems. They slowly warm to each other and fall in love. Unfortunately, Paul is going away to visit his son in Venezuela who is a doctor in the mountains. They continue to express their love to each other through letters.

The film isn’t horrible. The story is decent enough even though it isn’t all that original. It feels as if the director and writer took it safe and decided to stick to the general routine dramatic-comedy. There is little surprise and most of the twists can be seen a mile away. Aside from that, the movie is watchable and if one’s expectations are too high, is enjoyable.

The film could have been so much more. It tries so hard to be the essential romantic-drama of the decade but falls flat on its face. The film tries to do too much at times and adds too much filler for it to have any positive memorable experiences. There are scenes that could have been omitted for the benefit of cleaning up the story. The interactions between Adrian and her best friend (Viola Davis) could have easily stayed on the cutting room floor and made the film more fluid and interesting. The entire ending was a mess. They almost salvage it with an impressive display with Lane sort of all alone but then they ruin it with adding one very short and ill-contrived scene.

The acting was acceptable but none of the characters are actually likeable. While the intention is for Gere’s character to seem a bit unfriendly at the beginning, his character doesn’t develop enough to warrant the audience to warm up to him. Adrian’s family is annoying and you can’t blame her for wanting to take a couple of days off from them. Even Lane, who is always enjoyable to watch, doesn’t have a character that demands or deserves enough empathy at the audience. Towards the end, you won’t care if there is a happy ending or not. The hurricane allows for more of an emotional response than any other character in the film.

With all this criticism, it’s hard to imagine that one would think this film is good. It can be boring, lame, and even feel lazy at times, but it not atrociously bad. It is in essence, a chick flick and the audience it is pining for may enjoy it. As a film on it’s own accord, it could have used more work. There are worse films out there but there are many more out there that are more enjoyable. 

☆☆