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After watching this for the 10th time something finally clicked with me. The James Garner character is actually James Marsden and not Noah (Ryan Gosling). What finally made it click was all the details that Garner knew about Marsden, and both actors are named James (not a coincidence) I think there could even be a theory that Noah didn't exist at all at least the idea of Noah and Allie that Allie had in her head. James Garner is also Duke, name doesn't match either one, so maybe he could even be a 3rd lover.

I'm going to watch it again this weekend and get all the clues to prove this.