Third time's a charm for Lane and Gere's romantic chemistry

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, people who like this sort of movie will find this the sort of movie they like.

"Nights in Rodanthe" offers us two hurting souls healed by the power of romance, a frighteningly realistic, nocturnal hurricane, a surprise cameo appearance and three endings more than the story really needs.

Most important, "Nights" celebrates the third romantic pairing of Richard Gere and Diane Lane following "The Cotton Club" and "Faithful."

No, "Nights" does not rank up there with those earlier films. Nor does it quite match the genuine pathos of "The Notebook," based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, who also wrote the novel that this movie is based on.

Yet, the sheer charisma of the stars elevates this prime candidate for Lifetime Channel rerun eternity. TV director George C. Wolfe's conservative first feature will lose very little visual impact making the transition to home video.

"Nights" opens with Adrienne Willis (Lane) confronting her adulterous hubby (Christopher Meloni) for his indiscretions. He takes the kids with him to Orlando. She needs time to think. So her best friend Jean (Viola Davis) lets Adrienne manage her seaside North Carolina bed-and-breakfast for a while.

Meanwhile, we watch as Dr. Paul Flanner (Gere), a prominent surgeon, surrenders the keys to his mansion-like home to new owners, He hops in his luxury car and heads for the very same bed-and-breakfast. Flanner, a single dad, is on a personal mission to mop up the emotional residue of a terrible surgical error.

The screenplay plugs up all the improbable holes that throw Adrienne and the doctor together. It's off-season, but since Flanner offers to pay double, Jean accepts him as her only guest. Then she departs to deal with personal business, leaving Adrienne to take care of Flanner by herself.

Eating dinner together, the two adults freely share their life stories. She learns that Flanner used to be a hotshot surgeon who basked in the false glory of godlike acclaim. Humbled by failure and loss, he now seeks to reconnect with the son he ignored for all his life.

Adrienne must decide if she will continue to be her hubby's doormat, or take charge of her life. (In Sparks' more proper novel, Adrienne is divorced before fooling around with the doctor.)

"Nights" doesn't break any new ground in the post-40 romance genre, but at least its characters talk like real adults and view the world through a genuine adult perspective. Not jaded or cynical. Simply settled and mature, reasonable and grounded.

A hurricane scene (with Mother Nature actually supplying the effects) is a terrifying sequence that gives Adrienne and Flanner proper reason to hasten their romance along. But each carries so much baggage that the question in "Nights in Rodanthe" isn't will they ever fall in love, but how can they possibly sustain it?

Although reliable character actor Scott Glenn injects tearful sorrow into a local resident who blames Flannery for his wife's death, "Nights" really belongs to Lane, whose quiet effervescence and effortless sexuality not only drive this romance, they make Gere look better than he should.

This movie really pours on the sweet-and-sour syrup by the closing credits. In some respects, it's almost a relative to the 1970 smash hit "Love Story."

After all, love means never having to say you're sorry for jerking tears out of viewers with cinematic pliers.

"Nights in Rodanthe"

Two stars (out of four)

Starring: Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Scott Glenn, Viola Davis

Directed by: George C. Wolfe.

Other: A Warner Bros. release. Rated PG-13 for sexual situations. 97 minutes.