If you've seen one film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, you've seen them all. So what's left to say about the latest overwrought romance based on one of his books, "The Longest Ride"? Those who saw "The Notebook," "The Best of Me" or "Nights in Rodanthe" might find his latest, directed by George Tillman Jr., extremely familiar, with a couple small tweaks: Bull-riding and Judaism are involved.
The movie jumps back and forth in time, following two love stories as they unfold simultaneously, yet decades apart. In the modern day, the pairing involves Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood, son of Clint) and Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson). He’s a competitive bull rider, looking to buck his way back to the top after a serious accident sidelined him for a year. He was thrown from a particularly bad beast, Rango, and one lingering look at the bull leaves no doubt that foreshadowing is at work; there will be a rematch. Sophia, meanwhile, is soon to graduate from Wake Forest with plans to move to New York City and intern at a gallery. One night she gets cajoled by a sorority sister into going to her first rodeo, and she enjoys it more than she expects, especially when young Luke shows off his skills for mounting an enraged bull and hanging on for dear life.
[Are you watching a Nicholas Sparks movie? This guide can help.]
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One chance encounter with a dropped cowboy hat and the two are embarking on their first date, which in turn leads them to the scene of a car wreck. Luke and Sophia end up saving the life of the elderly man behind the wheel, Ira (Alan Alda). He’s a curmudgeon with a heart of gold and, of course, a great love story to tell — through faded old letters, no less.
In flashbacks, we see Ira as a shy young man (played by Jack Huston, nephew of Angelica) falling in love with the effervescent Ruth (Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie — do you notice a theme here?). She’s an Austrian Jew whose family fled the Nazis and relocated to Ira’s hometown.
True to form, Sparks’s intertwining stories involve impossibly beautiful people and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles to their happily ever after. Sophia and Luke’s fledgling relationship is endangered by her relocation and his passion for a life-threatening sport. And then there’s Ruth, who desperately wants a bushel of children. But Ira, injured during World War II, can’t provide.
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The moral of the story: True love requires sacrifice, kids.
The cinematic path to this nugget of wisdom is mostly forgettable. Is it the bad dialogue or the poor editing that creates such a lack of chemistry between Luke and Sophia? Or is subpar acting part of it, too? It's hard to tell. Eastwood doesn't prove himself to be much more than a pretty face and a chiseled body; but to be fair, it would be hard for any actor to pull off some of these lines. For example, when Luke asks Sophia if she and her sorority sisters have pillow fights in their underwear (ugh) she responds: "No, we don't wear underwear." Witty banter this is not.
The older tale is more enjoyable (and there’s thankfully no room for sorority jokes). Chaplin especially conjures up a winning character in Ruth, a teacher with a childlike enthusiasm for art and life. It’s during this thread that the movie hits its most emotional notes, although the heavy-handed score practically screams, “You can start sobbing now.”
People don’t go to Sparks movies for subtlety; they go to warm their hearts by bearing witness to true love. Of course, that requires a story that rings true. In “The Longest Ride,” authenticity is in short supply.
PG-13.At area theaters. Contains some sexuality, partial nudity and some war and sports action. 128 minutes.
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