Nos nuits à Rodanthe

Nothing to say about the cinematography the acting was overall good except for James Franco none of his scenes felt natural they were very forced, the movie tries too hard to pull at Your Heartstrings, the kissing scenes are a little excessive, in conclusion, it's slightly below-average, watch if there's nothing else better to watch

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.

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.

Starting off with a promising first act with lightly interesting and developed characters, rich in personality and with hints of chemistry between the two love interests, Nights in Rodanthe is a train wreck if ever there was on; giving meaning to the fact that even if a movie starts out well, it can end up in the gutter pretty quickly. Following on from the opening, the movie then resorts to cheap melodramatic contrivances, and demeans both its characters and performers by negating their roles to mere romantic plot devices used to set up act three's ridiculously sappy ending. The middle act, which finds both characters slowly falling for each other, isn't all that bad, and while it does get irksome towards the end, even such a closing would have saved the movie from being a complete disaster. Nevertheless, with a few moments of interest, usually inherent in the performance of Gere, Nights in Rodanthe isn't without its positives, but you certainly have to do a lot of looking to find them.

As a romantic drama, Nights tries to do one thing and one thing only and that is to make with the mushy. Director George C. Wolfe in his big screen debut here opts to take this to an extreme however, and even goes to the point of rejecting any focus at all on characters past the half-way mark. After this point, Nights in Rodanthe turns into a holiday from hell. Mawkish, banal and overly pretentious, both Wolfe and the writers here adopt a tone of whimsy light-headedness that often clashes with the story's much more serious (at least, that's what it tries to be) subplot involving a death caused by one of these characters. What's more annoying is that the movie's earlier sequences, which although clearly unfocused and seemingly directionless, at least had some humanity present in its central figures, these earlier moments of promise are forgotten. After forty minutes or so, all that's left for Wolfe to do is to drag on the romance as far as he can to the point where we're no longer watching real people fall in love, we're simply watching an outline for a romance movie. Character A and Character B going through the motions… Yawn. Haven't we done this before? To be fair both performers try and make the best of their undoubtedly tricky situation. Throughout there are moments of genuine chemistry between both Gere and Lane, and while the romance isn't exactly palpable enough to sustain much interest past the halfway mark, they at least keep the thing going as best as they can. Essentially however you get the feeling that both would rather be somewhere else; in between these instances of chemistry are scenes which fail to deliver any emotion whatsoever, even though the director seems sure that what he's doing is going to get your eyes watery. The truth is, Nights in Rodanthe is a sappy, overly emotional romantic drama; so much so that it's absurd. I can't feel for these people and I can't feel for their petty outbreaks of self-loathing angst. When I begin arguing with characters in my head whilst I'm obviously supposed to be feeling pity for them, I disconnect; it's over. Stop trying to engage me. This happened an hour into Nights in Rodanthe, and although I could have been won back, sadly it only gets worse from there.

It's hard to see why anyone would enjoy such a film. Sure enough if you're a major fan of "weepies", for some reason enjoy watching people cry a lot and don't mind romance that feels generic and predictable then you might just get something from Nights, but even then you'll probably feel under-whelmed. There's no denying I had hope for this film; with Gere and Lane helming what looked to be a mature love story, I figured the worst that could happen would be if I was subjected to a teaspoon of fairy tale whimsy. Unfortunately however, I did get that, and I also got a shallow, unremarkable feature that was essentially a few scenes drawn out far too long with a third act that wasn't necessary or even enjoyable in the slightest. Some decent individual performances throughout, but with limited chemistry and an overwritten, overly romanticised script, Nights in Rodanthe isn't a night to remember by any means.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

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.