Today’s quick review: Nights in Rodanthe. With her husband taking the children for the weekend, Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) escapes to Rodanthe, where she agrees to take care of her friend Jean’s (Viola Davis) beachside bed and breakfast while she’s away. The inn’s sole guest is Paul Flanner (Richard Gere), a divorced doctor on the island for personal business. As Adrienne and Paul get to know each other, they begin to fall deeply in love.
Nights in Rodanthe is a romantic drama about two desperate people who find new meaning in life when they find each other. Diane Lane stars as Adrienne, a hard-working mother whose marriage has been rocked by her husband’s infidelity. Richard Gere plays opposite her as Paul, a doctor who has sacrificed everything for his career only to be left with nothing. One quiet weekend together starts a relationship that changes both of their lives forever.
Nights in Rodanthe is missing the spark it needs to be an effective romance. The only sources of tension early on are Adrienne’s mixed feelings about her husband and the vague mystery of why Paul came to Rodanthe in the first place. Those won’t be enough to hook most viewers, leading to a slow start as the romance gradually builds up steam. However, the chemistry between Diane Lane and Richard Gere is lacking and doesn’t feel worth the wait.
Nights in Rodanthe also has issues with its storytelling. The pacing of the movie is patchy. There are long dry spells filled with nothing but setup and low-stakes conversations, then there are bursts of drama and sentiment as the movie tries to make up for lost time. Nights in Rodanthe does have enough skill to get its points across, but the unimportant details dominate the story while its key dramatic moments don’t have space to breathe.
None of this will stop Nights in Rodanthe from appealing to the right viewer. Its mature characters, mundane style of romance, and clean emotional beats will speak to viewers who are fans of romance for its own sake. But broader audiences will find that the story doesn’t resonate the way it should due to poor pacing and a lack of chemistry. Dedicated fans of the genre may want to give it a try, but other viewers should set their sights a little higher.
6.0 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it the same for a decent story with flawed delivery.