As someone who's spent most of his adult life within a stone's throw or so of the Pacific Ocean, I was delighted to spend some time last year with my eldest sister, who has a gorgeous vacation property on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was struck by the sparse, rugged beauty of the Atlantic coast, something quite different than the majestic cliffs and wide sandy beaches out west (at least in Oregon). That environment is put to stunningly good use in Rodanthe, which makes the almost desert-like background a character. The plot revolves around Adrienne (Lane), a perhaps soon to be divorced woman with a teenage daughter and younger son, who has agreed to monitor her friend's Rodanthe, North Carolina beach hotel for a weekend. As Adrienne is packing the kids off for a stay with her estranged husband (Christopher Meloni), he drops the emotional bomb on her that he wants to come back, despite an affair he had. That sends Adrienne into a bit of a tailspin as she arrives at the gorgeous beachfront property to assume hotelier duties for a few days.

The one guest booked for a stay turns out to be Doctor Paul Flanner (Richard Gere), who we find out, through a series of not very artfully handled flashbacks, is recovering from a divorce and kid estrangement of his own after a patient of his died on the operating table. It further turns out he's in Rodanthe because the deceased woman's husband had written to Flanner requesting a meeting.

We therefore get a typical Sparks setup of two emotionally damaged people brought together under unique circumstances who through their grit and determination will not only help heal each other, but also fall in love, dadgumit. If there's not a real surprise to be had in Rodanthe, there is the passing entertainment of seeing two very accomplished actors do some generally fine work, at least in the more understated moments. The opening scenes between Lane and Gere are especially well handled by the stars, with a palpable sense of uncomfortableness. Some of the other, more over the top, moments are a bit questionable, from a "feels real" standpoint, notably Gere's explosion after he's confronted by the dead woman's son, and especially Lane's sobbing hysteria when she's confronted by tragedy toward the end of the film.

What tends to elevate Rodanthe above the standard turgid soap opera tragic love tale is the enticing production design, which almost reminded me of Mamma Mia!, believe it or not, with deep cerulean blue interiors and some absolutely striking shots of the Carolina waters. Director George C. Wolfe (Angels in America on Broadway) has a firm grasp on the visual possibilities of the film's setting, and utilizes them extremely well. He also manages to keep tabs on both Lane and Gere, aside from the occasional outburst mentioned above. The quieter moments of this film are by far the most affecting. By the time things devolve into the putative tearjerking finale, it seems more than a little forced, especially the kind of silly (and completely predictable) coda that has Lane finding her spiritual mojo again.

If there's nothing exceptionally new or exciting about Rodanthe, there's also nothing egregiously horrible about it, either. It harkens back to the heartstring pulling romances of yore (especially if they have a tragic undercurrent), things like An Affair to Remember or Love Story. If you're a fan of this kind of tried and true formula, you could probably do a lot worse than to spend one night in Nights in Rodanthe.

The Blu-ray

Video:
Rodanthe looks very nice indeed with a VC-1 2.40:1 transfer. Color is especially luminescent on this BD, with deep blues and purples and extremely strong and consistent black levels in the night scenes. The image is sharp and well defined. I have my suspicions that DNR may have been used--it's hard to spot grain anywhere in this film. That said, it's not so bad as to make everything look like smooth plastic--there's still a depth and dimensionality to everything. There are very occasional, fleeting artifacts to be seen, including some line shimmer and banding in the exterior shots, but they're extremely brief and not very distracting.

Sound:
The DD 5.1 mix is fine for what it is, but it certainly is nowhere near BD reference quality. Some of that can be due to the effect that Rodanthe is, after all, mostly a "quiet" film with two people talking. But even the climactic hurricane scene is strangely devoid of real immersion, despite the rear channels finally kicking in for a moment or two. This is a pretty lackluster sound design, but what is there is rendered cleanly and clearly with no issues whatsoever. There are also French, Spanish and Portuguese 5.1 mixes available, as well as subtitles in all of the soundtrack languages.

Extras:
There are some very nice extras included on this BD, all in HD. First up is "The Nature of Love," a typical "behind the scenes" featurette that has the stars and director Wolfe waxing philosophical on the meaning of it all. It's hampered by the bizarre use of soundtrack music in the interview segments, which suddenly cuts out during actual snippets from the film--odd and disconcerting. "Lost in the Hurrican" is a catch-all title for several deleted scenes, all with director commentary. "In Rodanthe" offers Emmylou Harris talking about her contributions to the film as well as her career in general. "A Time for Love" documents novelist Nicholas Sparks, including his altruistic good works mentioned above. Finally there's a music video of Gavin Rossdale's "Love Remains the Same," a digital copy, and BD Live (which had no content other than the trailer when I checked).

Final Thoughts:
It's probably suitable that this review is going up on Valentine's Day. This is a "chick flick" par excellence, with beautiful people falling in love and then experiencing profound tragedy. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe a surprise or two along the way. This BD looks great enough that anyone interested in seeing this once should Rent It.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet