Click here for a detailed explanation of how we determine our grades.

The MPAA has rated Nights in Rodanthe PG-13 for some sensuality.

Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) may not be the first 40-something woman to fantasize about a romantic escape with a handsome stranger. But that is still hardly what she is expecting when she agrees to run her best friend's (Viola Davis) bed and breakfast for a weekend.

With only one room booked, she plans on a quiet getaway to think about the mess her life is in. Separated for several months following her husband's dalliance with a younger woman, Adrienne is struggling with a rebellious teenaged daughter (Mae Whitman), a withdrawn son (Charlie Tahan) and Jack's (Christopher Meloni) pleas for forgiveness so they can attempt to rebuild their marriage.

Instead of deliberating on her future, however, she soon finds herself swooning over the attractive doctor that arrives for a stormy stay at the aging oceanfront property. Equally consumed with the problems of fractured families, Adrienne and Paul (Richard Gere) confide their troubles to one another over drinks with dinner. Their commiseration initiates an instant intimacy and, after the rains of an impending hurricane drive them inside the shuttered cabin, this married woman quickly shares her bed with the man she just met.

While the consummation of their newly formed friendship provides for some steamy film footage, it does nothing to resolve the dilemmas they both face. Fortunately for Richard Gere fans who want to see his character end up with the woman, the filmmakers do little to develop the role of Adrienne's unfaithful husband. Jack's secondary presence and a dearth of details about his past make it hard to sympathize with him and easier to dismiss his attempts to fix his mistakes in their marriage. Even the kid's tearful petitions for their mother to forgive their father become negligible factors as Adrienne throws herself at the divorced surgeon.

Although happily married couples and content children in this movie are as rare as snow on this North Carolina beach, social drinking -- including a scene of drunkenness -- and profanities are plentiful. The impact of grief is also explored as several characters deal with an unexpected death and other personal losses.

While the theme of escapism in this film might seem like a dream come true for viewers bogged down in the challenges of parenting, work and the ups and downs of an everyday marriage, this whirlwind weekend romance on a starry Rodanthe night sends a misleading "two wrongs make a right" message and conveniently eclipses the realities of a new day.

Beyond the movie ratings: What Parents need to know about Nights in Rodanthe... Seemingly devastated by the unfaithful actions of her husband, Adrienne nevertheless engages in her own extramarital affair with a virtual stranger. A lingering sexual encounter, innuendos and sexual comments are included as well. A hospital room mishap and a natural disaster result in death. A man and his son grieve the loss of a wife and mother. Moved by anger, the boy attacks the car of the man responsible for his mother's death. During a hurricane, a house is pounded by a storm resulting in broken windows, the continual banging of shutters and some tense moments for the occupants. Family members are shown fighting. Characters drink frequently with dinner. After a stressful call with her husband, a woman consumes alcohol until drunk. The script contains mild and moderate profanities as well as terms of Deity.

Talk about the movie with your family:

Why is the man who lost his wife in the hospital eager to talk to the doctor? How did his relationship with his spouse differ from that of the other couples in this story?

Although Adrienne wants to be a good mother, what impact might that desire have had on her marriage? How does the film keep audiences from bonding with Jack? Does the film offer any justification for Adrienne's refusal to attempt to reconcile their differences?

While the romance between Paul and Adrienne is shown in a positive light, what problems from their pasts might resurface in a new union? What impact may Adrienne's decision have on her children and her unfaithful husband?

Video alternatives…

Author Nicholas Sparks has had several of his novels made into movies. Along with Nights in Rodanthe, other film adaptations include the teenage romance A Walk to Remember and the love story of an elderly couple in The Notebook.

Richard Gere plays a character drawn towards a despondent woman in the movie Shall We Dance?

Official site: http://nightsinrodanthe.warnerbros.com/

Kerry Bennett

© 2008 One Voice Communications. All Rights Reserved.