We all know that author Nicholas Sparks wrote The Notebook, which became a movie starring the sweet duo Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Before The Notebook Sparks's novel Message in a Bottle became a movie. Later came A Walk to Remember starring Mandy Moore, and this year his book Nights in Rodanthe arrived on the big screen towing Richard Gere and Diane Lane in its wake.
Now there are not one, but two more Sparks-induced movies in the works: Dear John and the recently announced adaptation of The Lucky One.
Sparks's writing is rather recognizable now for its combination of desperate romance and heartbreaking tragedy. Do you like these movies? Do you think they'll work if they have a good combination of actors (like Ryan and Rachel)? Or should we just stop with the Nicholas Sparks already?
Lanvin
Designers Guild
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Dear John? Wow, that sounds like a real winner. All of his movies are terrible, decent actors or not. Honestly, and I know I'm in the minority, but the thought of The Notebook fills me with boiling hate.
1why not? so far they've been good!
2why not? so far they've been good!
3Loved the Notebook...Loved a Walk to Remember..Loved message in a Bottle...as long as the next ones are better than nights of roadanthe im in...Love his books!
4I sat through the notebook, but just barely, I had read the book in an hour and hated it, but a friend dragged me to the theater and I felt like I was in some candid camera situation, all these weepy women couldnt possibly be stomaching this cheesy BS?
I wont watch another one, I would rather get a root canal, a colonoscopy and a bikini wax.
5I am indifferent on this issue. I loved A Walk to Remember and The Notebook, but I don't care to see Nights in Rodanthe or Message in a Bottle.
6love love love love love his books so would love more movies too!
7I think he is a terrible writer, all schmaltz and sap and cliché, but that doesn't stop him from being a best-selling one.
8i have only read one of this books- which hasn't been made into a movie- and it was horrible. however i do love the notebook. i'll watch a walk to remember or message in a bottle if it is on tv. but so far his only success in my eyes is the Notebook movie
9I loved The Notebook & A Walk to Remember but haven't watched any of the other ones. I loved the book Nights to Rodanth and wasn't too fond of the actors they picked to play the part.
So to answer these:
10Do you like these movies? Yes
Do you think they'll work if they have a good combination of actors (like Ryan and Rachel)? Definitely need the right casting
You are so right CaterpillarGirl - I think the same thing every time that one of my friends starts gushing about how wonderful and romantic and well done The Notebook was. My one thought tends to be "Really? You're a smart girl - you bought into that shmaltzfest?"
11I love nicholas sparks books and movies. However i defiantly feel that you need to like that type of genre of writing because if not then you are not going to start liking it just because of his books. But i am a big fan of his, the more movies the better =D
12Vomit. I think they would do better as television movies. Kinda like the schlocky "Hallmark Hall of Fame" or Lifetime movie ones.
13Why not, I'll probably never read one of his books again, it made me cry way too much! I guess that is what I get for teasing my mom for at this stuff when I was little!
14well i guess that means that he's got friends in high places huh? that has to be really nice to be an author and have success with the books and then have them transformed into movies. go figure!
15I hate all these books. They seem boring and sappy.
16I read The Notebook and actually loved the book but I guess I'm a stupid schmaltzy romantic
. I actually refused to watch the movie because I didn't want to see the changes they made to the original story which was based on actual
events. I have read other Nicholas Sparks books but I was never wowed by them and he clearly has a formula that he's using to churn these things out. I don't think we need any more of these
movies but I think there will be more just like there are innumerable volumes of romance novels with bare chested pirates and lusty wenches.
17I like to read his books... and I watch the movies. But quite frankly, I'm indifferent as to more of his books turning into movies. I'd be just as happy if from now on his books never met another movie.
18I can't stand either the movies or the books. They're far too saccharine and manipulative for me.
19I COMPLETELY agree with Bella. Terrible writer. His books are SO saccharine! The Notebook was a great movie, message in a bottle was ok too but the rest just SUCK.
20I LOVED the Notebook. A Walk to Remember and A Message in a Bottle weren't all that great to me. I've never seen Rodanthe and I don't want to. The only book I've actually read by him was The Lucky One and I didn't think it was good enough to be a movie. I think that making books into movies is just the in thing right now.
21I can't speak for the rest of his books but, I have both read and seen The Notebook. I adored the movie (and I hate "chick" flick), so much so that I rushed to read the book. Well, I absolutely hated the book! I dunno I'd say he doesn't need to be hailed so highly. What made those movies special were the chemistry of the actors.
22I liked Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember okay enough. I have not been able to watch the Notebook to the end, what a terrible movie!
23i am a sappy romantic and i think the books are so much better than the movies. the only movie i thought was good was the Notebook.
message in a bottle is a great book....movie was HORRIBLE. the whole point is "messages in a bottle", in the book you get to read the letters. in the movie, she just finds them. same w/ walk to remember....mandy moore was terrible and i like her!
i do agree that all of his stories are similar. someone's heart always breaks. Dear John was lame!
24Nights in Rodanthe was really disappointing. I was so excited to see it and walked out of the theater bummed out. I enjoyed the first part of the movie but the last half was such a let down - but, I should have known, Nicholas Sparks movies are pretty predictable.
25All his books are so tragic! I've seen a few, but they always leave me so sad
so i'll probably
pass on watching any future movies.
26i think he's found his niche in writing. his books may not be the most complex, but it really strikes a chord with a lot of die-hard romantics. i can't deny that i absolutely loved the notebook and a walk to remember. haven't seen or read anything else.
27I love the movie versions of The Notebook and A Walk to Remember. I've read Message in a Bottle but haven't seen the movie - but I HATED that book. Worst ending ever. I also read the sequel to the Notebook & was surprised to learn the book had a different ending than the movie. I prefer the movie's ending - I'm a total hopeless romantic.
28Definitely needs to be decent casting - with people who are likeable and have good chemistry - Gosling and Adams made movie magic because they fulfilled all of these factors - if you don't have them, you end up getting a movie like Closing the Ring (yes, I watched it and it was apalling - it had such potential as well! But it died because lets just say that Mischa Barton is no Rachel McAdams and kills everything she's in (apart from The O.C.))
The key is really good actors who won't kill a cheesy storyline with overthetop cheesy acting - the emotion needs to be acted convincingly (paradox, I know
) Anyways, I love cheddar!
29I wouldn't mind watching either of them. I've watched 3 out of the 4 that are out now; And I am happy to say that I am in LOVE with Nicholas Sparks' novels. They're truely amazing and they know how to touch a person's heart. I'm so adapted to the characters that I can feel the love they're feeling and the tragic heartbreak it tends to have somehow towards the end. The movies have been great so far; Why not make every book a movie? I bet other readers are dying to see the BEST books on the big screen as well.
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