What Do The Critics Say?

"This is one of the increasingly rare Hollywood films that treat people in middle age as though their feelings were just as intense and their needs just as valid as those of people half their age. The scarcity of such stories: especially for women, is apparently one of the reasons Lane is withdrawing from acting, so we should be grateful that one has come along." Lawrence Toppman CHARLOTTE OBSERVER "It's an increasingly rare pleasure to see two naturally aging adults onscreen, and it's not exactly hard work to watch this still-gorgeous pair fall in love. Especially if you're overdue for a little vacation from reality yourself." Elizabeth Weitzman NEW YORK DAILY NEWS "Diane Lane’s performance, especially in that third act, really got me involved in the film emotionally." Ben Lyons AT THE MOVIES "Rodanthe is a reliably steamy stormy sultry story about Inner Change at the Outer Banks where strangers become intimates." Carrey Rickey PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER "One of this year's most stirring romances, adroitly manipulative, yes, but never condescending." Dustin Putman THE MOVIE BOY "Diane Lane and Richard Gere have the chemistry necessary to make you believe them as lovers on screen. They showed it in "The Cotton Club"; they repeated it in "Unfaithful"; and they do it big time in "Nights In Rodanthe". Lane and Gere have magic between them, and this movie spreads that magic all around. Go to see it with someone you love and have a great time." Jackie K Cooper HOLLYWOOD

"Even though their clinches aren't sexy, Gere and Lane still make an extremely attractive pair. They seem to fit together, whether dancing or just talking. As depicted in "Nights in Rodanthe," the weekend at a shorefront inn on North Carolina's Outer Banks is certainly romantic." Carla Meyer SACRAMENTO BEE "Another sappy soap opera for Nicholas Sparks fans satisfied by panoramic seascapes offset intermittently by lingering interludes of dysfunctional strangers locking lips and loins." Kam Williams NEWSBLAZE "I was pretty well braced for everything to come, but man, that scene with the daughter at the end still got me. Damn you, Nicholas Sparks, and your magical tear jerking super powers!" Fred Topel CAN MAGAZINE "Nights in Rodanthe is a soap opera, for sure, but it's a beautifully-acted one and director George C Wolfe revels in the story's swoony lushness." Chris Hewitt ST PAUL PIONEER EXPRESS "Nice scenery, attractive stars and another credible, affecting performance from Lane." Angie Errigo EMPIRE MAGAZINE "For 94 minutes women (at least middle-aged women) can drink in Gere and men (of all ages) can gaze at Lane (whose beauty makes me gasp for air). What's wrong with that?" Tony Medley TONYMEDLEY.COM "Nights in Rodanthe is typical Nicholas Sparks fare that has been turned into a tasteful melodrama courtesy of the easy chemistry between its two leads and a generally restrained touch from Tony-winning director George C Wolfe in his feature debut." Michael Rechtshaffen HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

The Inside Story "This is a story about people discovering there is an Act Two in their lives," says director George C. Wolfe. It’s an apt theatrical reference that comes naturally to Wolfe, a renowned stage director, writer and producer with two Tony Awards to his credit, making his feature film directorial debut with "Nights in Rodanthe". "People go through a good portion of their lives making decisions and choices that are either good or bad, right or wrong, and they often feel that the state to which it brings them is permanent," he says. "It’s as if they reach a certain point and say, 'Okay, this is my life; this is what I made of it and this is all I get.'" "But what happens as we embark upon the second half of our lives?" asks producer Denise Di Novi ("Edward Scissorhands" & "Batman Returns"). "Do we find love? Do we find our soul mates if we haven’t found them yet, or if we found them and lost them? People are always discovering new interests and new facets of themselves. The idea of finding a soul mate in the middle of the journey is not so unusual; sometimes it takes that long and sometimes it happens when you least expect it. The dream of finding true love doesn’t end at twenty five. That’s the message of "Nights in Rodanthe" and I believe many people can relate to that and will be inspired by it." "It’s a love story for adults," Richard Gere notes. "These are people who had lives before they met and aren’t looking for a relationship to define them." Still, this is a relationship that will change how Adrienne and Paul define themselves and that, in turn, will alter the course of their lives well beyond the time they spend together. "Circumstances and dynamics evolve. Sometimes life and the universe offer us something we never expected or had given up hoping for," says Wolfe. Not only does "Nights in Rodanthe" suggest that it’s never too late to find that one true connection, it is likewise never too late to regain the self you lost along the way, while living the life you thought you wanted: or that others expected of you. Above all, it is a sweeping love story in the Nicholas Sparks tradition. Diane Lane, who stars as Adrienne, attributes Sparks’ appeal to "his sensitivity to people’s hearts. I think there is an appetite for seeing that other people are like us and have needs similar to our own, no matter the era, age or circumstances. Love crosses all lines." Sparks, the best-selling author of such memorable titles as "The Notebook", "Message in a Bottle" and "A Walk to Remember" (the latter two produced for the screen by Di Novi) feels that "Nights in Rodanthe" is a thematic return to his origins as a storyteller. "It’s one of the most intrinsically romantic novels I’ve ever done. It has a storm, an isolated beach and a wounded couple who come together and heal each other, and it involves a whole range of human emotion: happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, passion, impatience and patience." "What I like about Nick’s work is that it gives equal weight to the male characters," adds Di Novi, speaking as both a fan and creative collaborator, who believes that the emotional life of men is too often neglected or simplified in film and fiction. "Paul is a complicated man. He is not just 'the guy Adrienne falls in love with.' His experience is as important as hers and that’s an element of the story George and I strove to recreate on screen. It’s one of the reasons I wanted him to direct. I knew he would bring that sensibility to this project." “Nights in Rodanthe” marks the third screen pairing of Richard Gere and Diane Lane. The two first met playing reckless lovers twenty four years ago in five time Oscar ® winner Francis Ford Coppola's 2004 film "The Cotton Club" (Lane playing Vera Cicero and Gere playing Dixie Dwyer), and in 2002 portrayed a couple whose faltering marriage still radiates heat in the memorable drama "Unfaithful" (they were cast as Connie and Ed Sumner). Remarking on their palpable onscreen chemistry, Gere and Lane slip into an easy banter that proves the point even as they laugh about it. Lane cites the example of actors with sizzling real-life chemistry whose romantic scenes can fall inexplicably flat on film, before joking, "Richard and I have the opposite situation. We feel absolutely nothing standing next to each other" Gere corroborates that, saying "I mean nothing. Less than nothing. Yet, when you see it on screen it’s all there. It’s a miracle." In truth, he goes on to say, "Our friendship has evolved over the years into a great sense of trust. I love working with her." Gere also believes that the differences between who they were in their "“Cotton Club" days, both as actors and as individuals, and who they have since become, is appropriate to the kind of relationship that develops between Paul and Adrienne. "What was important to me in taking on this role, and Diane too, I believe, was that it wasn’t a story about kids who are goo-goo eyed about each other from the moment they meet. It’s not that kind of movie. There are scenes in which they barely look at each other, but there is a powerful and deepening understanding at work and you can feel it evolve in front of you." "What you potentially bring to a relationship at this stage is often so much more than what you had to offer at eighteen," Lane notes. "You have more insight, more personality and more appreciation of things: and of each other." As all of these elements come together in the growing rapport between Paul and Adrienne, two people caught by a storm in the Outer Banks, "It never feels as though we are watching two actors. Rather, it’s as if we’re just watching two human beings experiencing life," notes 2006 Directors Guild of America Award winner Wolfe (TV'S "Lackawanna Blues"). Just as there is always a chance to fall in love and to find your purpose, there is always a chance to learn, to do things better and to make things right with the people in our lives. Beyond Paul and Adrienne are other key players in this drama, who support or challenge them in ways that help bring them to this juncture. It is Torrelson’s tragedy that precipitates Paul’s journey to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and, subsequently, the opportunity for some serious soul-searching. "Paul chose early on to put career first, to be the best doctor he could be, not for the money but genuinely to help people. And he has accomplished that, though, in the process, he is estranged from his adult son and has lost his marriage and his home. Now, facing this emotional and spiritual crisis, he walks away from all the former touchstones of his life. He arrives at the inn uncharacteristically untethered," says 2003 Golden Globe winner Gere ("Chicago"). Adrienne arrives similarly untethered, although 'undone' might be closer to the truth. While still coping with the fact that her husband has been seeing another woman, she is hit with the further disorienting news that he has changed his mind and wants her back. "She’s in a 180 degree spin, first bracing for divorce, now a possible reconciliation. Adrienne has given up a lot of freedom over the years by putting her family first," Lane offers. "And she’s been comfortable with that, but lately she’s been honing a new identity for herself as a single woman and finds it’s not so easy to abandon that and go back," says the 2003 ShoWest Convention Female Star of the Year ("Unfaithful"). "I don’t think Adrienne sees herself as ripe for romance. That’s not at all where her mind is. She probably doesn’t see herself as ripe for anything right now except maybe three months in a spa." It is Jack, Adrienne’s conflicted husband, who creates the crisis that sets her adrift. And it is Jean whose decision to entrust the inn to Adrienne this fateful weekend provides the perfect setting for storms to break and love to take hold. Paul’s situation with Torrelson occurs almost simultaneously with the dissolution of his marriage and the deepening estrangement with his son, but, of the three, it’s the one problem that appears to have the simplest solution. Scott Glenn ("The Shipping News" & "Freedom Writers") was cast as the grieving widower Robert Torrelson. "Scott is brilliant," says 1990 Independent Spirit Award winning producer Di Novi ("Heathers"). Christopher Meloni who has appeared as Detective Elliot Stabler in two hundred and fourteen episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", was cast as Adrienne's estranged husband, Jack. Meloni sees his part as "the catalyst. Jack lights the fuse of what becomes Adrienne’s journey. He pushes her into this dilemma where she has to reconcile and examine everything to figure out what’s right or wrong for her and where she goes next." The role is more complex than would first appear. As Di Novi ("Ed Wood" & "What A Girl Wants") points out, "No one sets out to be the bad guy. No one plans to do the wrong thing." Ultimately, says Meloni (who played Coach Bob Kelly in the 1999 film "Runaway Bride"), "Jack is sincere in wanting to be part of the family again, but I don’t feel he’s coming back for the right reasons. Even through his sincerity you get the sense that there’s something not quite right about him, and, hopefully, audiences will pick up some of the misgivings Adrienne feels toward him, without necessarily even knowing why." One person who would likely agree is Adrienne's loyal friend and confidant Jean, played by 2001 Tony Award winner Viola Davis ("King Hedley II"). Jean provides encouragement, humor and honest opinions, without waiting to be asked. Clearly, the two women go back a long way together. "Jean represents a completely liberated woman. She knows who she is and doesn’t care what people think. She gives full expression to her art and talent and lives life to the fullest, and in some ways that’s what Adrienne aspires to," says Di Novi. "They’re a good match because they balance each other’s choices while sharing a similar point of view," says Davis ("Disturbia"). Jean’s freewheeling style is much different from the life Davis lives and was part of the reason Wolfe cast her. "This is definitely not who I am," she said. "Jean is much more flamboyant and free and would do things I would never do. I’m more grounded and introverted." Wolfe and Davis are both associated with the Public Theatre, but this the first time that they have collaborated so closely as director and actor. Mae Whitman ("Arrested Development") plays Adrienne’s daughter Amanda and Pablo Schreiber ("The Wire") plays Torrelson’s son Charlie. Production began in May 2007 in the small town of Rodanthe and its environs on the Outer Banks, an approximately 200-mile string of barrier islands that parallel the North Carolina coast and seasonally bear the brunt of the ocean’s fury. Known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, this hurricane-prone region rates one of the highest densities of shipwrecks in the world. Synopsis

Two people are about to discover there is always a second chance to find the love of your life. Adrienne Wills, a woman still reeling from her husband Jack’s betrayal and struggling to rebuild a life without him, has just learned that he wants to come home. Torn by conflicting feelings, she welcomes the chance for escape when an old friend asks her to manage her inn in Rodanthe for a weekend. There, on a remote spot along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Adrienne hopes to find the tranquility she needs to rethink her future life. It’s the off-season and the inn would be shuttered but for the unlikely arrival of its solitary guest from the city, surgeon Paul Flanner. A man who long ago sacrificed his family to his career, Paul has come to Rodanthe to fulfill a very difficult obligation and to face his own crisis of conscience. They're two strangers sharing the same roof. As a hurricane closes in, they turn to each other for comfort, and by doing so set in motion a life-changing romance that'll resonate through the rest of their lives.

The Verdict "Even though we know it's contrived to produce a teary-eyed ending (like it's predecessors "The Notebook" and the tear-jerker teen flick "A Walk To Remember"), those of us who are a suckers for a romantic yarn, will find "Nights In Rodanthe" the latest Nicholas Sparks novel to make it onto the bigscreen, most enjoyable. We know it's fanciful. We know it's wishful thinking that love could come so easy. And we fully understand that if a production involves Nicholas Sparks, sooner or later we will succum to shedding a tear or two. But do we romantics at heart of all ages give a damn? Of course we don't! Despite all the flaws in the story-line and the four trillion to one chance that two people could meet and fall in love in such circumstances, it goes straight to our hearts. We know where "Nights In Rodanthe" is heading. We know it's all romantic eye-candy. But, as long as it gets there, we couldn't care less. So put on the rose coloured glasses; grab your partner; head for your local multiplex; grab a couple of bucket size Coca Cola's and a big box of popcorn; snuggle up together in the love seats and enjoy the film. Well worth a look at. Great for couples, a date flick, girls night out. How could you 'not' recommend it. 4 STARS." Crew Bytes "NIGHTS IN RODANTHE" was .......
directed by George C Wolfe ["Nights in Rodanthe"]; set decoration by James Edward Ferrell Jr ["The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland", "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and "The Secret Life of Bees"]; art direction by William G Davis ["Muppets from Space", "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" and "The Secret Life of Bees"]; costume design by Victoria Farrell ["Sleeping Together", "Kiss Me, Guido", "Boys Don't Cry" and "Strangers with Candy"]; production design by Patrizia von Brandenstein ["Mercury Rising", "The Ice Harvest" and "All the King's Men"]; edited by Brian A Kates ["The Woodsman", "Shortbus" and "The Savages"]; cinematography by Affonso Beato ["La Flor de mi secreto", "Ghost World" and "The Fighting Temptations"]; original music by Jeanine Tesori ["The Emperor's New Groove 2" and "ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway"]. Who's Who

Diane Lane Richard Gere Christopher Meloni Viola Davis Becky Ann Baker Scott Glenn Linda Molloy Pablo Schreiber Mae Whitman Charlie Tahan Carolyn McCormick James Franco Ted Manson

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Adrienne Paul Jack Willis Jean Dot Robert Torrelson Jill Torrelson Charlie Torrelson Amanda Willis Danny Willis Jenny Mark Flanner Old Gus

Run Time 97 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Warner Bros Films - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved The Movie Pages - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.