Movie Reviews

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

Review in a Hurry: Diane Lane and Richard Gere are trapped in a town with giant nocturnal rodents? No such luck. Rodanthe is the tiny beach community where they fall in love as a hurricane approaches. Fans of weepy romances will dig it; the rest of us would prefer a battle with mutant, killer rats.

The Bigger Picture: Whenever a Diane Lane character gets caught in a windstorm, she has an extramarital affair. In Unfaithful, she was literally blown into the arms of lover Olivier Martinez. And in this adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, she's swept off her feet during a storm surge. (Gere has now played both the cuckold and her Casanova.) Unfortunately, the weather isn't the only thing overblown in Rodanthe.

Adrienne (Lane) faces a dilemma when her cheating hubby asks to come home. She mulls her decision while visiting the North Carolina coast, where she's managing a friend's inn for the weekend. With a big storm a comin', there's only one guest—Paul (Gere), a surgeon struggling with his own family issues and a medical tragedy.

Tensions between Adrienne and Paul—sexual and otherwise—reach a fevered pitch as the fierce winds howl. While fighting to batten down the hatches, they fight about their effed-up lives ("What are you afraid of?!" "What are you afraid of?!") and then jump each other's bones. It's hurricane as therapy and foreplay.

But what will happen once the tempest passes? Duh. This being Sparks and The Notebook for middle-agers, there are the predictable life lessons, reconciliations, syrupy love letters, soaring music, wild horses running on the beach, etc. All on cue.

Lane and Gere have a comfortable rapport and manage to rise above the melodramatic material, as does Scott Glenn in a nice turn as a local widower. But director George C. Wolfe uses a heavy hand to wring out emotions and drag out the schmaltz.

If you're craving a drippy chick-flick, dive right in. Just be sure to take hankies—to wipe your tears and mop up the sap.

The 180—a Second Opinion: The photography and production design look great, especially that stunning seaside inn. You wouldn't want to evacuate, either!