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September 26, 2008
‘Nights in Rodanthe’: The media frenzy and national reviews
By IRENE NOLAN  The North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration have signed the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the replacement of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, which spans Oregon Inlet and connects Hatteras Island to the mainland in Dare County. A public comment period is open until Monday, Oct. 27. “Nights in Rodanthe” has certainly brought the Outer Banks the kind of publicity that money can’t buy – at least for this week. Richard Gere and Diane Lane were all over the talk shows this week from “Good Morning, America” to “Live with Regis and Kathy Lee” and the various entertainment shows. Each appearance came with a clip from the film – showcasing the Outer Banks and, especially Hatteras Island. The photography shows off the island in a most spectacular way. “Nights” even made it on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” on Thursday night. Stephen Colbert, in his persona as a conservative talk-show host, laments the state of the economy and the fact that the Presidential debates might actually go on as planned Friday night. "How can this happen", he asks, "when Friday is the nationwide opening of “Nights in Rodanthe?” He pulls out various tabloids with the headlines. He makes a reference to the “chemistry” of the stars, which has been thoroughly dissected on almost every talk show. The chemistry, he said, was “like two actors who are paid to like each other." Then he implored Sen. Barack Obama to put aside politics for the opening night. “Unless you’re debating whether or not it’s too late for a second chance,” Colbert noted that he was not interested in watching. We’ve also collected a few of the first reviews on the movie. For the most part, critics call it a “weeper” and a “tearjerker.” In any case, it has given movie critics everywhere, it seems, the opportunity to get in some good lines. Some of them are pretty funny. If you have time to read only one, you should read Roger Ebert in The Chicago Sun-Times. In case you haven’t the time to read any, we’ve chosen some of the highlights: "Nights in Rodanthe" is what Variety likes to call a "weeper." The term is not often intended as praise. The movie attempts to jerk tears with one clunky device after another, in a plot that is a perfect storm of clichè and contrivance. In fact, it even contains a storm -- an imperfect one. The hurricane bangs the shutters like the Amityville Horror. It must have no eye, so the wind only blows once. In the morning after the storm, the sun is shining, and the inn is still standing. Remarkable, really, considering the photos from Galveston. It is a three- or four-story clapboard building, taller than it is wide, standing on stilts at the veritable water's edge. In the morning, we see damage: a skateboard and a bike blown up. Some trees blown over. Just the most wonderful gnarly old piece of driftwood. --Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times Plus, there's just enough home cooking, canoodling and walks along the beach to make Rodanthe look like the realization of the ideal personals ad. --Carey Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer Diane Lane and Richard Gere are less memorably reunited in this spare but effective telling of a novel by Nicholas Sparks, he of “The Notebook” It's the sort of film, frankly, one either utterly succumbs to or stubbornly resists, and those opting for the former course shouldn't be disappointed. Lane has practically cornered the market on romantic chick flicks for a slightly older audience, and this one should find a modest sweet spot in theatrical release before inevitable immortality in endless airings on Lifetime. --Brian Lowry, Variety Many critics will no doubt tar this film with the dreaded “Lifetime movie” epithet, but I’d venture a bit further — “Nights in Rodanthe” is the world’s longest General Foods International Coffee commercial. --Alonso Duralde, MSNBC contributor Don't deny me my dreams. But the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation to ooze its way into theaters, "Nights in Rodanthe,'' probably won't be the last, judging from the volume of sniffles I heard upon fleeing the screening room. Love him or hate him, Sparks knows how to bring the pain to everyone in the audience, and for some, it hurts so good. --Glenn Whipp, in The Mercury-News, San Jose, Calif. Guilt, anger, betrayal, forgiveness, romantic longing, love won and lost, it's all here, along with a taste of Outer Banks crab-cracking (parties) and Outer Banks history -- the ponies, "Teach's Light" (a ghostly glow at sunset, named for the pirate Blackbeard) and those nights, those Nights in Rodanthe! It's a pity that a movie that begins with such simmering promise chills into a film of pretty people in a pretty place telling a pretty bland story. --Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel TO READ MORE ON THE REVIEWS http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080925/REVIEWS/809250307 http://www.mercurynews.com/movies/ci_10549039 http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20080926_Gere_and_Lane__Again__they_just_feel_right.html http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-09-23/film/nights-in-rodanthe/ http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXBY07IyG1BBlrv6ddx9WLvj5WVA http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938448.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?rid=11701 http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20228527,00.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26871886/ http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-movie-nights-in-rodanthe-092408,0,4218602.story http://hamptonroads.com/2008/09/rodanthe-shines-big-screen |
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