First Hit: Generally I liked this film and thought Lane and Gere worked well together.
This is a love story and a nice one. Richard Gere plays Dr. Paul Flanner who has a patient die during an operation and drives out to a bed and breakfast on the North Carolina Outer Banks to meet with the husband of the person who died on his surgical table.
The family is suing him and he is distraught because he didn't make any mistakes during the surgery, his wife has left him and his son has run off to Central America. Diane Lane plays Adrienne Willis whose husband had an affair, left her 7 months earlier, but now wants to come home.
At the beginning of the film Adrienne is shuttling her kids out of the house to spend time with their dad while she stands in as innkeeper for her friend. A storm threatens the inn and Paul is the only guest. They both are struggling with internal issues and they become each other’s teachers.
They fall in love and begin to find their path to be together and to live life more fully.
What didn’t work for me is that Gere seemed to make, not so subtle, romantic moves too early in their getting to know each other phase. However, the lesson he learns is one that many need to learn and it is about being more compassionate and her lesson is to dare to be the person she wants to be. From a chemistry point of view these two work well together. I loved Scott Glenn in his two brief scenes as the husband of the person who died while Paul was operating.
Overall: Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel this is a nice love story and fairly well acted.