Video: 5
Audio: 5
Extras: 5
A sweet, charming story of enduring first love, The Notebook follows Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), two teenagers who indulge in a heated summer romance that Allie's mother frowns upon. However, despite efforts to keep the couple apart, a chance meeting seven years later brings the twosome back together again.

One look at the gorgeous, warm-hued opening sequence demonstrates that this platinum-edition disc lives up to its name. The 2.35:1 anamorphic picture provides a well-detailed, contrasty picture that is equally adept at bright highlights and dark sequences. Although the talkie soundtrack doesn't much challenge the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, dialogue is up-front, and music is rich-sounding.

Stellar extras include two separate commentary tracks from director Nick Cassavetes and Nicholas Sparks, whose novella was the basis for the screenplay. Four featurettes, including an illuminating look at Cassavetes and his family's film pedigree, cover a variety of aspects of the production, including casting and location scouting. The most innovative supplement is a wonderful commentary track from the film's editor, who explains the decision-making process behind several deleted scenes.

This slick package is well worth adding to any collection.