Nicholas Sparks must have the weepy romance story formula memorized because Nights in Rodanthe is sure to please those who loved his other recent romantic hit, The Notebook., as the screenwriters have managed to extract a sweet, if formulaic and soap-operatic, romance from another of Sparks' novels (Note: I've not read the book.) This time, the story follows two broken people who find love once again after finding themselves and each other during a chance encounter on a passionate and stormy weekend.

Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) is a successful surgeon, but apparently, he wasn't a great husband or father to his now-estranged son, who is also a doctor. In addition to his divorce, he and his son haven't talked in over a year and to top it off, his last surgery went terribly wrong. Paul needed some time alone, to think, to make things right in his life, before he goes to find his son who's been in Ecuador for over a year. So he checks in as the only guest at a beachside inn in the town of Rodanthe, North Carolina.

Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) has recently separated from her cheating husband, and she's trying to raise a couple of kids (asthmatic, videogaming boy, and rebellious girl with attitude) on her own. She's gone through her share of heartache during this separation, and then just as she's starting to accept the idea of being alone, her husband says he wants to come back and restore their marriage. He drops this thought on her just as she's on her way out for a weekend trip to take care of a Rodanthe inn belonging to her best friend while she's out. Yes, the same inn Paul will be staying in.

As the gods in Rodanthe would have it, Paul is the only guest because it is the off-season and he paid a pretty penny to stay there. And almost immediately we see the chemistry between Adrienne and Paul over a meal and conversation in the kitchen of that Rodanthe inn. These two broken people find comfort in each other by just talking and listening to each other, sharing their stories of brokenness.

Lane and Gere have great on-screen chemistry, and they have you almost immediately forgetting that Adrienne is mulling over the possibility of restoring her marriage with her cheating husband. Although both Adrienne and Paul have experienced years of marriage, children and their share of troubles, their developing romance is like watching two very young people finding love for the first time.

Over the brief amount of time these two share, we hear their frustrations over their lives being turned upside down. They relate the universal truth of how life goes on and on, day in and day out, and you expect it to be that way forever. There is comfort in the routine, but then one day tragedy strikes and changes everything. And both at are at a point in their lives where they must make a drastic change, an important decision—and venture into the territory of starting over.

As these two characters connect, sharing the shade of their darkened clouds, an actual storm threatens the shores of Rodanthe. The booming thunder and screaming wind mirror the inner turmoil these characters experience. As their anger and frustration boil, the storm rages on, the rain washing away the sadness and pain.

He will surely give me shelter in the day of danger; he will hide me in his home; he will place me on a rocky summit. Psalms 27:5

There is something beautiful in the way Paul acts as de facto protector for Adrienne after they struggle to find some stable shelter in the inn. Adrienne tries to take care of things on her own, but as the storm pounds the house, Paul comes in at a moment of desperation and she finds comfort and safety in his arms.

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