Adaptation of note

The Notebook
PG-13
Starting tomorrow at area theaters
Three reels out of four

Nick Cassavetes apparently learned quite a bit from his late father, and most notably how to extract the truth from a story.

The director’s famed dad, John — who directed "indie" films before the phrase was invented — realistically chronicled the downfall of an alcoholic housewife in 1974 (A Woman Under the Influence); 30 years later, his son put an authentic spin on a sappy romantic tale called The Notebook.

Ryan Gosling plays Noah, a young man who works at the local lumberyard and falls in love with Allie (Rachel McAdams), a rich girl summering with her family in rural Georgia just before the outbreak of World War II.

The conflict is that she’s in love with him, too — which doesn’t sit well with her parents (played by Joan Allen and David Thornton), who want better things for her.

Ryan and Allie seemingly move on with their lives, at least until she prepares to marry the scion of a wealthy family (James Marsden) — because that’s when she spots Noah’s picture in the paper. She must see him one last time.

The main plot is intertwined with a subplot involving an elderly man in the present day (James Garner) reading a story out of a notebook (hence the title) to an elderly woman (Gena Rowlands, the director’s mom) in a nursing home. Without divulging too much of the plot, I’ll tell you the story lines are related.

The movie works on several levels, and mainly because it tells the love story effectively. But for the present-day subplot, the film could have been shot in the 1950s — the height of sweeping sagas about doomed love raging against class distinctions.

Yet, for all its retro setting and tone, The Notebook has a decidedly new-age feel. Much credit is given to going with one’s heart. (And, in case you’re one of the few who hasn’t read the book, you don’t have to be Oprah to figure out with whom Allie ends up.)

Nicholas Sparks authored the original novel to much acclaim; Cassavetes may just have done it justice. The drama centers on the decisions we all must make in life, but it’s portrayed movingly.

The acting is a cut above the usual love-story stuff. Gosling is an effective Noah and Allen does well as Allie’s strident but not inhuman mother. And, perhaps predictably, Rowlands and Garner are marvelous.

Recommended rental

Barbershop 2: Back in Business
PG-13
Available Tuesday

The sequel to the surprise hit Barbershop returns as we get to see how Calvin (Ice Cube, who wrote the first one) and his crew deal with the ups and downs of life as usual in Southside Chicago. Calvin would love nothing more than one day passing his family business down to his son. That looks increasingly unlikely when hair-salon franchise Nappy Cuts plans to move in down the block. Calvin receives support from his usual customers plus an unlikely ally, Gina, from the beauty shop next door.