Tagline: It’s never too late for a second chance.
A woman retreats to the tiny coastal town of Rodanthe, to tend to a friend’s inn for the weekend. Almost as soon as she gets to Rodanthe, a major storm is forecast and Dr. Flanner arrives. He is the only guest at the inn and now with the storm closing in, the two turn to each other for comfort.
Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane), a woman with her life in chaos, retreats to the tiny coastal town of Rodanthe, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to tend to a friend’s inn for the weekend. Here she hopes to find the tranquility she so desperately needs to rethink the conflicts surrounding her–a wayward husband who has asked to come home, and a teenaged daughter who resents her every decision.
Almost as soon as Adrienne gets to Rodanthe, a major storm is forecast and Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) arrives. The only guest at the inn, Flanner is not on a weekend escape but rather is there to face his own crisis of conscience. Now, with the storm closing in, the two turn to each other for comfort and, in one magical weekend, set in motion a life-changing romance that will resonate throughout the rest of their lives.
Nights in Rodanthe is a 2008 American romantic drama film. It is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 2002 novel Nights in Rodanthe. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their third screen collaboration after Unfaithful (2002) and The Cotton Club (1984). The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for “some sensuality” and was released on September 26, 2008. It was filmed in the small seaside village of Rodanthe, the northernmost village of the inhabited areas of Hatteras Island as well as North Topsail Beach, North Carolina. The film’s soundtrack features “Love Remains the Same”, a song written by Gavin Rossdale for his 2008 debut solo album, despite the fact that it does not appear in the film.
Sometimes Life Offers A Second Chance
“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. “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 25. 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,” offers Richard Gere, who stars as Paul. “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 they define themselves and that, in turn, will alter the course of their lives well beyond the time they spend together. Says Wolfe, “Circumstances and dynamics evolve. Sometimes life and the universe offer us something we never expected or had given up hoping for.”
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 love George’s work,” she continues, citing Wolfe’s critically acclaimed direction of the HBO drama “Lackawanna Blues.” “His attention to detail in that piece, from the costumes and sets to just the overall richness of that whole world he created had such emotional impact. I knew he would bring that sensibility to this project.”
Another aspect the filmmakers responded to was the way in which Paul and Adrienne meet as independent, fully formed individuals people can relate to, with not only the requisite emotional baggage but with histories, opinions and responsibilities. Says Wolfe, “They have already experienced many things-the loss of parents, the birth of children, disappointments and pain that we all deal with.”
Paul, a surgeon, has come to the Outer Banks of Rodanthe to meet Robert Torrelson, the widower of a patient who accidentally died in his care. Ostensibly he is here to tie up loose ends and maybe circumvent a lawsuit, but there may be more compelling reasons driving him.
Says Gere, “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 untethered.”
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. Clearly, this is what her two children want, in particular her daughter Amanda, who applies as much pressure as she can muster toward that end. Certainly it would be the simplest solution….but is it what Adrienne really wants?
“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 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 Lane. “I don’t think Adrienne sees herself as ripe for romance,” she adds. “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.”
When Adrienne’s friend Jean goes on vacation and asks her to take over the duties of running the picturesque inn she owns on the Outer Banks one weekend, it’s a welcome retreat for Adrienne, an opportunity to sort things out. Simultaneously, it allows Paul a comfortable place from which to broach his difficult meeting with Torrelson.
The setting also offers Wolfe the opportunity to demonstrate what he feels is one of the story’s prominent themes: how the forces of nature can mirror the evolution of a relationship, and how an uncontrollable storm becomes a metaphor for the power of love. Thus, each of them arrives at the inn in what the director calls “a wonderfully vulnerable state. It’s as if life, faith and the elements unite to create the perfect opportunity. There, through a series of circumstances-dinners, conversations, confrontations and the ultimate intrusion of a hurricane that forces them to take refuge in the house and work together-they get to know each other in an honest and powerful way that is only possible when people are out of their element and removed from the artificial things that normally define them and keep them safe.”
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Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
Directed by: George C. Wolfe
Starring: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Scott Glenn, James Franco, Christopher Meloni, Viola Davis, Mae Whitman, Pablo Schreiber, Mae Whitman, Carolyn McCormick, Pablo Schreiber, Jessica Lucas
Screenplay by: Ann Peacock, John Romano
Production Design by: Patrizia Von Brandenstein
Cinematography by: Alfonso Beato
Film Editing by: Brian A. Kates
Costume Design by: Victoria Farrell
Set Decoration by: James Edward Ferrell Jr.
Art Direction by: William G. Davis
Music by: Jeanine Tesori
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sensuality.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: October 3, 2008
Visits: 60
