In High Gere

Everything about "Nights in Rodanthe" - director George C. Wolfe 's overly-crafted adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel - is a bit too much. The setting - a precious B&B in the titular North Carolina coastal town - is too perfect: the isolated strip of ocean, the straight-out-of-Cottage Life décor, even the surf laps a bit too closely to the perfectly weathered wooden staircase.  The script, by Ann Peacock and John Romano, ticks all the checkboxes for a romantic drama (divorces, estranged children, redemption), and the leads (Diane Lane and Richard Gere), as was proven in Adrian Lyne's 2002 barnstormer "Unfaithful", have chemistry to spare. Even the director overdoes it here (did we really need the swooping aerial shot of the Inn?). But the real believability-strainer comes from the setup, which is so contrived that it makes your average rom-com "meet-cute" seem plausible.

It all starts with Ms. Lane's Adrienne Willis, a mother of two who gets a surprise plea for reconciliation from her cheatin' ex-husband (Christopher Meloni). After handing over the kids for the weekend, Adrienne heads to Rodanthe where she promises to watch over the Inn for her best friend, Jean (Viola Davis).  You see, Jean has to go to Miami for the weekend and Adrienne agrees to act as caretaker for the weekend's one guest. And who should that guest be but Paul Flanner (Mr. Gere), a doctor with a whole lotta backstory, none of which adequately explains why he's the only one spending the weekend on an idyllic stretch of Atlantic coastline. But no matter. Adrienne and Paul quickly determine that their arrangement, as hotelier and guest, makes no sense and, before you can say "match made in heaven", they're sharing wine and sympathy.

Diane Lane, radiant as ever, is typically endearing as Adrienne. It's almost hard to watch her struggle with ex-husbands and ungrateful daughters, but she commits herself to every moment and sells the material even more than it deserves. Conversely, the script does not play to Mr. Gere's strengths. As a doctor grappling with some serious inner demons, the actor falls back on a series of familiar tics (rapid blinking, intent open-mouth stares) and, for a time, he even out-squints Renée Zellweger.

But that is all nitpicking. "Nights" isn't about believable plots or realistic settings. It's about perfect sunsets, isolated strolls on the beach, and tender love-making during violent hurricanes. And in that way "Nights" delivers. Despite the tendency for treacle that comes from the source material (Mr. Sparks' books have been turned into such weepies as "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember"), and Mr. Wolfe's need to over-direct (he jumpcuts the opening ten minutes as though this were an action movie), Ms. Lane and Mr. Gere are undeniably cute together. In the end, it's hard to hate a movie in which the two leads are so charismatic that the thought of them not living happily ever after brings a tear to the eye.