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The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

In 2021, movies tentatively returned to theaters. Television production stopped, and started, and sometimes stopped again. Movies and TV seasons that had been delayed were finally seen, and projects that would once have shown up only on big screens appeared on small ones.

With all that in mind, NPR's critics have rolled our movie and television picks into one big — and grateful — list of the things we most enjoyed watching this year, whether we were in or out of the house, with others or on our own.

Reviews by Eric Deggans, Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, Bob Mondello and Glen Weldon. Editing and production by Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar, with copy editing by Patricia Cole and Preeti Aroon. Photo research by Ashley Pointer, Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar. Design and development by Alyson Hurt. contributed to this story

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The best movies and TV of 2022, picked for you by NPR critics

Whether you plan to head out to the theater, or binge from the couch, our critics have gathered together their favorite films and TV shows of 2022. You can search by genre and where you can see it. Have at it!

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• Arts & Life

The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

December 23, 2021 4:52 PM

• Aisha Harris ,
• Eric Deggans ,
• Bob Mondello ,
• Glen Weldon , and
• Linda Holmes

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In 2021, movies tentatively returned to theaters. Television production stopped, and started, and sometimes stopped again. Movies and TV seasons that had been delayed were finally seen, and projects that would once have shown up only on big screens appeared on small ones.

With all that in mind, NPR's critics have rolled our movie and television picks into one big — and grateful — list of the things we most enjoyed watching this year, whether we were in or out of the house, with others or on our own.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org .

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The best movies and TV of 2023, picked for you by NPR critics

Whether you plan to head out to the theater or binge from the couch, our critics have gathered together their favorite films and TV shows of 2023. You can search by genre and where you can see it. Have at it!

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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The best movies and TV of 2022, picked for you by NPR critics

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• Aisha Harris
• Linda Holmes
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The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

In 2021, movies tentatively returned to theaters. Television production stopped, and started, and sometimes stopped again. Movies and TV seasons that had been delayed were finally seen, and projects that would once have shown up only on big screens appeared on small ones.

With all that in mind, NPR's critics have rolled our movie and television picks into one big — and grateful — list of the things we most enjoyed watching this year, whether we were in or out of the house, with others or on our own.

Reviews by Eric Deggans, Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, Bob Mondello and Glen Weldon. Editing and production by Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar, with copy editing by Patricia Cole and Preeti Aroon. Photo research by Ashley Pointer, Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar. Design and development by Alyson Hurt. contributed to this story

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The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

In 2021, movies tentatively returned to theaters. Television production stopped, and started, and sometimes stopped again. Movies and TV seasons that had been delayed were finally seen, and projects that would once have shown up only on big screens appeared on small ones.

With all that in mind, NPR's critics have rolled our movie and television picks into one big — and grateful — list of the things we most enjoyed watching this year, whether we were in or out of the house, with others or on our own.

Reviews by Eric Deggans, Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, Bob Mondello and Glen Weldon. Editing and production by Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar, with copy editing by Patricia Cole and Preeti Aroon. Photo research by Ashley Pointer, Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar. Design and development by Alyson Hurt. contributed to this story

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

In 2021, movies tentatively returned to theaters. Television production stopped, and started, and sometimes stopped again. Movies and TV seasons that had been delayed were finally seen, and projects that would once have shown up only on big screens appeared on small ones.

With all that in mind, NPR's critics have rolled our movie and television picks into one big — and grateful — list of the things we most enjoyed watching this year, whether we were in or out of the house, with others or on our own.

Reviews by Eric Deggans, Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, Bob Mondello and Glen Weldon. Editing and production by Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar, with copy editing by Patricia Cole and Preeti Aroon. Photo research by Ashley Pointer, Clare Lombardo and Natalie Escobar. Design and development by Alyson Hurt. contributed to this story

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics

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• Pop Culture
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In 2021, movies tentatively returned to theaters. Television production stopped, and started, and sometimes stopped again. Movies and TV seasons that had been delayed were finally seen, and projects that would once have shown up only on big screens appeared on small ones.

With all that in mind, NPR's critics have rolled our movie and television picks into one big — and grateful — list of the things we most enjoyed watching this year, whether we were in or out of the house, with others or on our own.

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Over the holidays, you might have some time to catch up on new films at home or to venture to the theaters. To help guide us on the best ones to add to your list, Jeffrey Brown speaks to two film critics on their top picks of the year. It's for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Amna Nawaz:

Over the holidays, you might have some time to catch up on new films at home or to venture out to the theaters.

To help guide us on the best ones to add to your list, Jeffrey Brown speaks to two film critics on their top picks of the year. It's for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

Jeffrey Brown:

Union strikes caused delays and other bumps in the road in Hollywood this year, but some films still stuck out from the crowd.

To tell us about this year's best films, I'm joined by Justin Chang, film critic of The Los Angeles Times, and Linda Holmes, host of NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour."

Nice to see you both.

Justin, why don't I start with you?

Why don't you give us a couple of your favorites?

Justin Chang, The Los Angeles Times:

Yes, hi, Geoff.

My favorite movie of the year really snuck up on me. It's called "All of Us Strangers." And it's the latest from the English writer-director Andrew Haigh. It tells the story of a lonely screenwriter who's played in a quietly gut-wrenching performance by Andrew Scott.

Are you ready? I'm going to press it.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas. Here you go.

Justin Chang:

I don't want to say too much about it. It's a gay love story. It's a drama about parent-child reconciliation, and it's also — and this is not a spoiler — it's a ghost story.

I haven't seen a more intimate movie this year. What makes it work, I think, is that it's really hauntingly ambiguous on one hand, but it's completely emotionally direct and satisfying on the other. And it features what is for me the acting ensemble of the year, with not only Andrew Scott, but also Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell.

A very different movie that I also loved is "The Zone of Interest," which is Jonathan Glazer's chilling and searing drama about a Nazi commandant and his family living next door to Auschwitz. This is a movie I hesitate to describe as a Holocaust drama because it so completely subverts what we have been conditioned to expect about Holocaust dramas.

It is very much about the banality of evil, but the movie itself is never banal. And it's the opposite of holiday cheer this season, but it is a movie that I hope audiences will embrace the challenge of, because I think it's rewarding to watch.

So, Linda Holmes, do you have any cheer for us? Those were two independent and pretty heavy films. What's on your list?

Linda Holmes, Pop Culture Correspondent, NPR:

I did love a lot of heavy films this year, but I'm also happy to provide a couple that have maybe a little more cheer.

I am one of the many people who enjoyed "Barbie." I very much admired all the crafts that were on display in that film, the production design, the scoring, the costuming. All of that stuff I thought was wonderful. And I think the story in the end just was much more interesting. Greta Gerwig, in writing and directing that, just did much more with it than maybe people expected.

And another one I…

And clearly struck a chord.

Linda Holmes:

Absolutely.

I mean, theatrical distribution still needs some big hits. That's still a really good thing for theaters. And I was really happy to see that happen.

Another one I would mention is "The Holdovers," which is from Alexander Payne. And it's about these three people who are stuck over the holiday break in a school. And it is Paul Giamatti as this very grumpy teacher, and then one of the kids that is in his class, and then the woman, played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who plays the woman who runs the food service.

And they all get stuck there. I think it's a beautiful movie. It's very generous to its characters. And, to me, it's warm without being cloying. That was how I responded to it.

You know, Justin, just thinking about "Barbie," getting back to this big and small and that moment of "Barbie," and I think you had "Oppenheimer" as one of your favorites from the year.

That moment of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," was that a — how does it feel now? Was it a one-off? Did it have a lasting effect?

It's hard to say. I mean, it did feel like one of those unpredictable and perhaps unrepeatable phenomena.

I remember going into a theater, not even to see "Barbie" or "Oppenheimer," both of which I enjoyed very much in different ways. I went to see another movie and just seeing theaters, like, crowded on a Monday night. And I think the lessons of both these movies is that personal vision and big-budget blockbuster filmmaking can and should merge together in a way that they so rarely do.

My concern about it is that it was so heartening to see two filmmakers that I respect as much as Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan succeed in this way. My fear is that it just contributes to the eventization of movies. I love event movies. I love being in thrall with an audience to a really big, glorious vision.

But, as a film critic, I'm concerned with the audience going to movies on a regular basis to make it a regular part of their entertainment diet, rather than just an exception. But what a glorious exception it was.

You want to give us another one that fits any category you like? I mean, what are you telling people at this time of year that they should see?

I cannot resist bringing up one that I really liked that I know Justin didn't like at all.

Because I think sometimes that's the most interesting, which is "Saltburn," which is this very extravagantly vulgar, loopy thriller that was made by Emerald Fennell, who made "Promising Young Woman" a couple of years ago.

My parents, they have got problems.

What kind of — what do you mean problems?

I don't think I will ever go home again.

Well, why don't you come home with me?

Very divisive movie. I knew walking out of the theater how divisive it was.

And I have actually really enjoyed talking to people about it. I have heard a lot of smart people who can't stand it and really smart people who thought it was terrific. It's my favorite thing that happens is when people have smart conversations about divisive things.

Ah. Well, OK.

Justin, you can either push back on that or maybe go positive and come up with another one that divided people, but you liked.

In a spirit of holiday charity, I will say that, while I did not like "Saltburn," as Linda says, I do think that Rosamund Pike gives one of the great comic performances of the year in it. And Jacob Elordi, who's also great in Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla," really does terrific work in "Saltburn" as well.

So, but another movie…

That's very generous, very generous.

You're welcome.

Another favorite of mine, to branch into animation, is "The Boy and the Heron," which is the latest and maybe the last, although we have heard that before, from the 82-year-old Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki.

If you like "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke" and "Howl's Moving Castle" and other Miyazaki films, it's a safe bet you will like this one too. It's a gorgeously drawn and surreal and inventive piece of animation. But what makes it so moving is, it's also very much the story of an older man, perhaps Miyazaki himself, looking back at a younger version of himself and asking questions like, how do we reconcile the pain of the real world and the escapism of fantasy?

It's a beautiful film, and I think a profound one too.

And just in our last minute, Linda Holmes, it's hard to talk about this year without, of course, thinking about the strike.

Do you see any impact now, or are you looking for it to come, or where has that left things?

You will see some films that are delayed. There are some that are already being delayed. So it's going to take a while for the schedule to kind of reset.

But I was so heartened by the fact that we have mentioned just a handful of movies here, but there are so many that were great this year that are still coming out. "American Fiction" is great. I like "The Iron Claw," which is about to come out.

Justin, brief last word?

I am just heartened by the fact that, as devastating as the strike was, I think writers and actors are happy to return to work. And I think they have seen the power that solidarity can accomplish and that they can and should be remunerated in accordance with their work.

I mean, they make this business run. And so I — it's just a shame that it took the devastating losses and just pain of the strike in order to accomplish that. So — but, hopefully, this season will be a good one for all of them.

All right, Justin Chang of The Los Angeles Times, Linda Holmes of NPR, "Pop Culture Happy Hour," thank you both very much.

Thank you for having me.

Listen to this Segment

Watch the Full Episode

In his more than 30-year career with the NewsHour, Brown has served as co-anchor, studio moderator, and field reporter on a wide range of national and international issues, with work taking him around the country and to many parts of the globe. As arts correspondent he has profiled many of the world's leading writers, musicians, actors and other artists. Among his signature works at the NewsHour: a multi-year series, “Culture at Risk,” about threatened cultural heritage in the United States and abroad; the creation of the NewsHour’s online “Art Beat”; and hosting the monthly book club, “Now Read This,” a collaboration with The New York Times.

Anne Azzi Davenport is the Senior Producer of CANVAS at PBS NewsHour.

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Threats, debt and Trump's advances: 'Stormy' doc examines the life of Stormy Daniels

Juliana Kim

Stormy Daniels from the Peacock documentary Stormy. NBCU hide caption

Stormy Daniels from the Peacock documentary Stormy.

The new documentary Stormy begins in 2023 — around the time former President Donald Trump was indicted over hush-money payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Stormy Daniels, who was paid by Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen to keep quiet about their alleged previous affair, watches the news unfold on TV and then says, "Let's go," before she walks off screen.

Stormy Daniels says she's not yet 'vindicated' by Trump's indictment

Stormy chronicles Daniels' life from her childhood in Baton Rouge, La., to her rise as an adult film actor and then, in the opinion of some, a feminist hero. It also gives viewers a glimpse into how she went from friend to foe of a celebrity businessman who became president of the United States.

"I am here today to tell my story and even if I just change a few people's minds, it's fine. If not, at least my daughter can look back on this and know the truth," she said in the film.

Trump's criminal trial over the hush-money payments has been delayed until mid-April. He faces 34 felony counts, alleging he falsified New York business records to conceal damaging information before the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies the allegations that he had an affair with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

On Monday, a judge rejected Trump's bid to block Cohen and Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — from testifying. The trial date will be set at a hearing on March 25.

The film, released Monday on Peacock, mainly captures Daniels' life between 2018 and 2023. Here are the main takeaways from the documentary:

1. Daniels explains why she didn't say no to Trump's advances back in 2006

Daniels alleged that she was abused by a neighbor in Louisiana when she was 9 years old. She did not go into further detail except to say that the man, whom she did not name, had abused other young girls and has since died.

Manhattan prosecutors open to a 30-day delay in Trump's criminal trial

Later in the film, as Daniels explained why she did not refuse Trump's advances when the two met in 2006, she said, "I didn't say no because I just, I was 9 years old again." At the time, Daniels was in her 20s and Trump was 60.

Though she described the alleged affair as consensual, Daniels said she did not want to have sex with Trump.

"To this day, I blame myself and I have not forgiven myself because I didn't shut his a** down in that moment, so maybe make him pause before he tried it with someone else," she said. "The hardest part about all of this is I feel like I am partially responsible for every woman that could have come after me."

2. Threats against Daniels have become more disturbing

Throughout the film, Daniels is forced to navigate insults and threats hurled at her and her family.

But she described herself as having thick skin. In one scene from 2018, Daniels joked that she was disappointed she could not find any hate comments on Twitter after she had received a key to West Hollywood from the city's mayor.

Fast forward to this past year, after Trump's indictment, Daniels said the hate comments had become more intense and disturbing.

Trump Admits To Authorizing Stormy Daniels Payoff, Denies Sexual Encounter

"Back in 2018, there was stuff like 'liar, s***, gold digger,' " she said. "This time around, it is very different. It is direct threats. It is 'I'm going to come to your house and slit your throat.' "

Daniels added that she did not feel protected by the justice system, and accused it of ignoring her concerns about her safety.

3. Daniels says her 'soul is so tired' but she is willing to testify against Trump

Amid the six-year conflict with Trump, Daniels' marriage ended, her relationship with her daughter became strained, and she felt her safety was constantly jeopardized.

But with Trump about to go on trial, Daniels said she's willing to testify in court against the former president.

"I'm more prepared with my legal knowledge but I'm also tired. Like, my soul is so tired," she said. "I won't give up because I'm telling the truth. And I kind of don't even know if it matters anymore."

4. Daniels owes Trump over $600,000 in attorney fees

Near the end of the documentary, it's clear that Daniels also suffered financially as a result of her years-long legal battle against Trump.

In 2018, Daniels sued Trump for defamation. The suit was based on a tweet Trump wrote that year, which suggested Daniels had lied about being threatened in 2011 to not speak out about her alleged previous affair with Trump.

A federal judge later dismissed the suit and ordered Daniels to pay the then-president's legal fees.

Stormy Daniels Ordered To Pay Trump $293,000 In Fees In Defamation Lawsuit

Daniels appealed but lost. She now owes Trump over $600,000 in attorney fees. The film asserts that Daniels is afraid she may lose her home.

5. Seth Rogen and Jimmy Kimmel speak on Daniels' behalf

Among the people who appeared in the documentary were actor Seth Rogen and late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel.

Rogen, who worked with Daniels on the 2007 film Knocked Up , recalled talking with her about Trump. At the time, Daniels said she was communicating with Trump about possibly being on his former reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice .

"She didn't realize she would one day be at the center of this giant thing as she was messing around with some game show host," Rogen said. "She's someone who made an enemy of the most powerful guy on the planet and didn't, like, cower."

The Two-Way

Stormy daniels, other stars guest in 'snl' cold open.

Kimmel invited Daniels to his show in 2018, when Daniels' nondisclosure agreement about her previous affair with Trump was still in effect.

Kimmel described Daniels as having a good sense of humor but also afraid of violating her NDA. He nodded to this during their interview, in which he brought out puppets to reenact her interactions with Trump.

"She told the truth and she paid a price for that," Kimmel said in the film. "It's not something that just goes away."

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Angela (Ilinca Manolache) is an underpaid production assistant on a film about workplace safety in Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. Unifrance hide caption

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Theater Review: Without Gosling or geese, Broadway’s ‘The Notebook’ goes for the guts, without guile

This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Joy Woods, left, and Ryan Vasquez during a performance of “The Notebook” in New York, the new musical based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the iconic film. (Julieta Cervantes/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via AP)

This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Maryann Plunkett, left, and Dorian Harewood during a performance of “The Notebook” in New York, the new musical based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the iconic film. (Julieta Cervantes/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via AP)

This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Maryann Plunkett, from left, Joy Woods and Jordan Tyson during a performance of “The Notebook” in New York, the new musical based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the iconic film. (Julieta Cervantes/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via AP)

This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows John Cardoza, from left, Dorian Harewood and Ryan Vasquez during a performance of “The Notebook” in New York, the new musical based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the iconic film. (Julieta Cervantes/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via AP)

This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Jordan Tyson, left, and John Cardoza during a performance of “The Notebook” in New York, the new musical based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the iconic film. (Julieta Cervantes/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via AP)

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NEW YORK (AP) — The romantic tearjerker “The Notebook” lands on Broadway in awkward musical theater form this spring having previously conquered books and movies. It is intent now on making a live audience openly weep by employing massive doses of schlocky sentimentality without the aid of Ryan Gosling.

The bombastic musical that opened Thursday at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is about a love for the ages but has understated songs by Ingrid Michaelson, who offers coffee house vibes instead of passion’s thunder. The book by Bekah Brunstetter loses gas well before it’s over and piles on the melodrama.

This adaptation from a Nicholas Sparks novel is the love story of poor boy Noah Calhoun and rich girl Allie Hamilton, told as the elderly narrator reads the story to his elderly wife with Alzheimer’s, the two later revealed to be the young couple of the story, whose passion was interrupted by meddling parents.

For the stage, three sets of multicultural Noahs and Allies have been hired for different stages — there’s inflation even on Broadway — so that at some points there are six people on stage representing our central couple, a somewhat diffusing effect. Luckily, the boys are dressed in brown and the girls in blue, like in kindergarten. It’s a bad sign when your Broadway musical needs color cues to distinguish the cast.

Directors Michael Greif and Schele Williams as well as choreographer Katie Spelman seem to complicate the visuals by rushing everyone around in a breathless whirl, saying, in effect, that what love really does is make you want to sprint.

The older couple (Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood) rarely leave the stage, weirdly hanging around to watch their younger selves, with elderly Noah supposedly reading from his notebook to trigger his wife’s memory. This effect is also used in the Neil Diamond musical and it’s just creepy, pulling focus and complicating the scenes.

The film’s chronological timeline has been shattered, which is a welcome idea, allowing time to be manipulated and scenes to dissolve and overlap, perfect for a musical about Alzheimer’s. But that opportunity has been squandered and instead we have songs like “Iron in the Fridge” or the cringey lyrics “Is it time for dinner?/Is it time for forever?”

Credit the writer for not aping the Gosling-Rachel McAdams film’s most charming visual bits — hanging off a Ferris Wheel, lying down in a street or boating with geese. But adding another health crisis, creating a tiresome physical therapist for comic relief and a terrible metaphor about sea turtles — “they return to the same nesting spot where they were born” — shows some desperation.

You better believe the movie’s lusty rain scene has made the leap to the stage — the couple even do that now-famous clinch several times. Unfortunately, there’s plenty more musical to go after that — including some death, leaving many audience members sobbing at a recent preview. Maybe they were just upset at how hammy it all was.

Michaelson does nail some tunes — “Leave the Light On,” “If This Is Love” and the wonderfully comedic “Forever” — but there are some 20 pieces of music and most dissolve in your mind mid-song. A real belter — “My Days,” for the excellent Joy Woods — is a welcome respite, but seems from another musical.

The multicultural cast has prompted the setting to change from the 1930s and ’40s to the ’60s and ’70s (you can tell because of the Diane von Furstenberg-like wrap dresses) and away from South Carolina to “a coastal town in the mid-Atlantic,” robbing it of specificity.

Perhaps that’s why scenic work by David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis is so odd. It’s the first hybrid hospital-boating dock design seen on Broadway in quite a while and hopefully the last. There’s a pool of real water there, and every once in a while, a pilon or a boat hull, juxtaposed with a neon Exit sign and chilly hospital decor.

Maryann Plunkett, Joy Woods and Jordan Tyson. (Julieta Cervantes/Boneau/Bryan-Brown via AP)

Such jarring touches overshadow a lovely attempt to show the evolution of Noah’s renovated old house, his goal to winning Allie back. It is first referenced in abstract pieces — a window here, a porch there — until it comes together as real when she finally calls it home. Like a sea turtle.

Lighting designer Ben Stanton has hung neon tubes vertically, trying to bridge the difference between fluorescent office lights and stars, and failing. Adding to the show’s way-too-muchness is the sound effect of a ticking clock. A messy Act 1 finale leads to the unwelcome sight of Act 2 beginning with a comatose patient, so don’t rush back from the bar.

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

‘The Notebook’ Review: Broadway Musical of the Popular Romance Hits All-Too-Familiar Notes

By Frank Rizzo

Frank Rizzo

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Musical theater can be a sucker for a romantic tale, whether it’s about obsessive devotion, idealized passion, or lost loves. “ The Notebook ,” based on Nicholas Sparks ‘ bestselling, 1996 debut novel, has elements of all three — but they’re thinly rendered here in this Hallmark movie of a musical, awash in sentimentality and drenched in wistful longings and wish fulfillment.

The huge fanbase of the romance novel and the 2004 hit film might initially boost the box office, but it will take more than recreating that iconic rainstorm to win over other theatergoers looking for more than clichés, tropes and triggers.

The notebook’s narrative tells of their relationship from first meeting to separation to reunion to marriage to old age. The journey is dramatized with interwoven, non-linear flashbacks, centering around their past teen selves (John Cardoza and Jordan Tyson) and then, nearly a decade later, their young-adults years (Ryan Vasquez and Joy Woods).

She’s a rich girl on summer vacation. He’s a poor local boy. She thinks he’s cute and he thinks she’s pretty. They fall instantly in love but her parents whisk the girl back home before things go much further. (Too late.)

Each thinks the other has forgotten the other and years go by. But just before her wedding to nice-guy lawyer Lon (Chase Del Ray) she decides to return to the place where it all began after seeing a newspaper article about a house he has spent years fixing up — and, as it turns out, pining for her all the while.

But to be invested in an endless love an audience has to first believe in it. In the script by Bekah Brunstetter (“This is Us”), there’s no “Titanic”-like connection between these two class-crossed lovers: no charm, no complexity, nothing special.

The show, which had a pandemic delay and a 2022 run at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, updates the novel’s time period from the 1940s to the 1970s and then extends to the present. But if there weren’t references about Vietnam, you would be at a loss to recognize the eras of the story — or to pinpoint the story’s locale, which the program notes as “a coastal town in the mid-Atlantic.” David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis’ set echoes that vague sense of place.

That feeling of everywhere/nowhere is reflected in the freshman score by indie singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson , the singer-songwriter whose tunes were featured in TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” They’re pleasant enough, tender and often lilting with introspective lyrics. But for the stretch of a musical, there’s little variation in tone or text, which is full of on-the-nose feelings.

That obviousness, however, may be the key to its popularity — and perhaps here as well. The romantic duo comes across as blank slates on which audiences may project themselves, nostalgically bathed by summer sunsets and moonlit nights, nicely supplied by lighting designer Ben Stanton.

Certainly the novel and film underscore that identification of ordinariness (though the film’s Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling take ordinary to a different level). Perhaps this intimate, small-scale musical will do the same here, but more likely it will land better on tour where the enchantment bar is lower.

As for the production, the staging by Michael Greif (“Dear Evan Hansen,” “Next to Normal”) and Schele Williams (“The Wiz”) feels, for all its intention of intimacy, contrived and unsurprising. For a while the cross-cutting of the three couples haunting each other is intriguing but soon Katie Spelman’s choreography of past and future lives ever-circling each other simply becomes a dizzying one-note effect.

The cross-racial casting of couples nicely underscores the universality of the romance and the ease of imaginative leaps in musical theater.

Plunkett and Harewood bring quiet compassion and authenticity as the oldest Noah and Allie. Plunkett is especially poignant as she struggles for her memories with confusion, curiosity and fear, but also reveals glimpses of a wry self, too, and the person she used to be.

Vasquez and Woods are in fine voice and bring a bit of humor and charm to their reunion scene. Cardoza and Tyson, however, are stuck with the heavy lifting as the teen couple who have to begin the epic romance — but have little in script or song to launch it across the decades.

Andrea Burns as Allie’s mother (and as a head nurse) has an assured presence, but she doesn’t have a song to bring another perspective to a pivotal character, which feels like a loss. Carson Stewart brings a welcome sense of quirkiness and fun as a health care worker.

Schoenfeld Theatre; 1017 seats; top non-premium $199. Opened March 14, 2024. Reviewed March 9. Running time: 2 HOURS 30 MINS.

• Production: A presentation by Kevin McCollum, Kurt Deutsch, Jamie Wilson, Gavin Kalin, Stella La Rue, Hunter Arnold, Roy Furman, Nederlander Productions, Lams Productions, Nicole Eisenberg, Betsy Dollinger, Endeavor, Sing Out, Louise! Productions, Timothy Laczynski,  Scott Abrams/Jonathan Corr/Leslie Mayer, Bob Boyett, Emily Bock/Pam & Stephen Della Pietra, Est Productions/LTD Productions, Independent Presenters Network, Lucas McMahon in association with Chicago Shakespeare Theater of a musical in two acts by Bekah Brunstetter, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks; music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson.
• Crew: Directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams; choreography by Katie Spelman; sets, David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis; costumes, Paloma Young; lighting, Ben Stanton; sound, Nevin Steinberg; projection, Lucy MacKinnon; music director, Geoffrey Ko, music coordinator, Kimberlee Wertz; orchestrations, John Clancy and Carmel Dean; musical supervision and arrangements, Carmel Dean; production stage manager, Victoria Navarro.
• Cast: Ryan Vasquez, Joy Woods; John Cardoza, Jordan Tyson, Maryann Plunkett, Dorian Harewood, Andrea Burns, Carson Stewart, Chase Del Rey, Hillary Fisher, Dorcas Leung, Charles E. Wallace; Yassmin Alers, Alex Benoit, Jerome Harmann-Hardeman, Happy McPartlin, Juliette Ojeda, Kim Onah, Charlie Webb.

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