The Longest Ride (2015)

hyped garbage

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

We are given an extremely touching love story and another sweet one, but perhaps the one we expected to keep our attention was not the one that really tugged our hearts.Brit Robinson and Oona Chaplin were endearing each in a different way as the leading women. Alan Alda was quite good despite his years.The ending was almost what I expected, but not quite. Even so it brought some tears. Overall, the story had plenty to keep us engaged.

Nicholas Sparks has an enduring audience – his novels are read by those of all age who love romance stories and his books are consistently transformed into successful films. In the case of THE LONGEST RIDE the screenwriter is Craig Bolton and he ha managed to make Sparks' story even more significant and touching than the original book. Much of that is, of course, due to director George Tillman, Jr. and a cast able to create the present and the past with aplomb.At first the audience may be put off by the violent brutality of bull riding – violent for both the bull and the human rider – but as the story progresses this degree of gut courage and commitment plays well in the film. The story centers on the star-crossed love affair between Luke (Scott Eastwood, a significant growth in presence), a former champion bull rider looking to make a comeback, and Sophia (Britt Robertson), a college student at Wake Forest in North Carolina who is about to embark upon her dream job in New York City's art world. As conflicting paths and ideals test their relationship, Sophia and Luke make an unexpected connection with injured Ira Levinson (Alan Alda) whose memories of his own decades-long romance with his beloved wife (the young Ira being played by Jack Huston and his wife Ruth played by Oona Chaplin) deeply inspire the young couple. Spanning generations and two intertwining and very parallel love stories, THE LONGEST RIDE explores the challenges and infinite rewards of enduring love.In addition to the mentioned actors, supporting roles are well managed by Lolita Davidovich as Luke's mother and Elea Oberon as Ruth's mother and Kate Forbes as Ira's mother. Mark Isham wrote the musical score. The inclusion of fine art plays a major role, both in the parallel stories of Sophia and Ruth and in the sensitive manner in which the story ends. THE LONGEST RIDE is a sweet and satisfying film.

Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson) is a Wake Forest senior set to work an internship at a Manhattan gallery after graduation. She gets drag to a rodeo by Marcia (Melissa Benoist) and falls for bullrider Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood) who is trying to make a comeback after an injury. His mother Kate (Lolita Davidovich) wants him to quit fearing another life-threatening injury. Driving back from a date, the young couple encounters a crash and rescues Ira Levinson (Alan Alda) with a box from the burning wreck. The box is filled with letters. At the hospital, Sophia reads them to Ira. There are flashbacks of a young Ira (Jack Huston) and his tragic love for Ruth (Oona Chaplin).It's another Nicholas Sparks special. This one is not trying to be quite as clever which did throw me a little. I kept waiting for a family connection between Ira and one of the young lovers. It's good that he doesn't succumb to the temptation. Jack Huston and Oona Chaplin don't have quite the charisma. They are more character actors. Eastwood is really pretty but he doesn't have the intensity or the charm of his father. Robertson continues to be adorable and has charisma to spare. They are two young pretty people with limited actual chemistry. They make for a beautiful picture with little depth. Alan Alda adds weight to the proceedings. This Sparks adaptation isn't as overtly manipulative but that does not make it good. The ending doesn't make me roll my eyes and that's pretty good for Sparks lately. I simply don't feel for either romances in the two different eras.

After watching The Choice,I gave another new Nicholas Sparks movie a try with The Longest Ride. It stars the diminutive but lovely Britt Robertson and Dirty Harry's good-looking son,Scott Eastwood.It tells a story about a romance between a professional bull rider and a college art student and how their romantic story was further developed when they save an old man from an accident. Alan Alda, Lolita Davidovich and Oona Chaplin co-stars.Luke Wilson got injured in bull riding.As he was about to recover at North Carolina,he meets Sophia Danko and romance starts to develop.Their love story becomes interesting as they save Ira Levinson from an accident while they were on the road going home from their first date.Both get to know more about Ira as he was recovering from the hospital and they get to learn about his story particularly the romance between him and his late wife,Ruth. Both stories are being told simultaneously as the film progresses.Screenwriter Craig Bolotin makes an effort to provide an interesting story but to no avail especially for movie viewers aren't fans for romance stories.It was obvious that the story was far from original as we have seen them in other movies before.Too bad that the stories of Luke and Sophia as well as Ira and Ruth have a lot of contrivances that one may find it silly and annoying.No question that it was emotionally manipulative particularly as Luke and Sophia manages to make life-changing decisions for the sake of their relationship.Do I need to mention the ending wherein Luke bids on a simple portrait where nobody is interested in?Too bad that even the bull riding aspect of the story did not provide any interest at all.The characters were also simply one-dimensional as well that they don't provide any interest in the film.In the end,it was simply another typical Nicholas Sparks story that were seen in the previous films that were adapted particularly The Notebook.Only people who are into romantic films would find this enjoyable and entertaining no matter how many times they have seen the same story in previous romantic films before whether they were written by Sparks or not.