Review of The Longest Ride (2015) by Lyubov G — 19 Aug 2015

"It is shameless, manipulative and very long but "The Longest Ride" is not as terrible as some of Nicholas Sparks' previous adaptations".

Movie Review: The Longest Ride.

Date Viewed: April 14 2015.

Directed By George Tillman, Jr. (Soul Food, Notorious, Men of Honor and Faster).

Screenplay By Craig Bolotin, Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Starring: Scott Eastwood, Britt Robertson, Alan Alda, Jack Huston, Oona Chaplin, Melissa Benoist and Lolita Davidovich.

Can somebody please make him stop. Nicholas Sparks has a tendency to make his movies suckier, mushier and longer in order to please to his target demographic. Forget about the chemistry between Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson, the real chemistry on screen is between Eastwood and David Tattersall's camera. We get so many close-up shots of Eastwood shirtless, it's almost as if the movie wants to have sex with him. The latest Sparks adaptation "The Longest Ride" is not as terrible as some of his previous adaptations but it is shameless, manipulative and very long (128 minutes).

In the latest longest ride from Nicholas Sparks' death-to-cinema theme park, it features two people who are from different worlds and they fall in love. It stars Scott Eastwood (the son of old Clinty) as Luke Collins, a bullrider who gets back on his feet, a year after a serious injury. He meets a young college student named Sophia Darko (Britt Robertson, TV's "Under the Dome") and they go on a date despite the fact that she's leaving for New York to embark on her dream job. She is a big fan of art and wants to have a job in New York City's art world but she can't take her eyes off of this cowboy.

When they go on their first date, Sophia's sorority girls go "GEEEEEE!" in excitement and one of the girls says, "I want a cowboy!".

On their first date, they rescue an old man who has crashed his car into a tree. The old man turns out to be a WWII veteran named Ira Levinson (Alan Alda). Sophia also rescued his box of letters and she visits him in the hospital. The letters were from his late wife, Ruth (Oona Chaplin) and Ira tells Sophia the story of how he met the love of his life. NOOOOOO! Mr. Sparks don't tell us two love stories in the same movie, it's infuriating.

The movie flashes back to the 1940s where the young Ira Levinson (Jack Huston) was a shy North Carolina lad who just wanted to go out with Ruth who just fled from Austria with her Jewish family. Soon, they fall in love, he goes to war and she becomes a schoolteacher. Like Sophia, Ruth is a big fan of art as well and she wants to start a family with Ira but they can't have children because he suffered a serious injury during the war.

Sophia's relationship with the hunky bullrider gets tested when Luke gets injured in the ring again. At risk of being killed or stuck to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Sophia begs him to stop bullriding but he wants to be the greatest bullrider alive. We all know what's going to happen at the end but "The Longest Ride" doesn't have a ridiculous WTF ending like most of Sparks' adaptations. Director George Tillman, Jr. (Men of Honor, Notorious and Faster) is an unlikely choice to direct a Nicholas Sparks movie but he makes it tolerable for his fanbase. Britt Robertson who will soon be in "Tomorrowland" with George Clooney is a charming presence as Sophia and Alan Alda is actually really good as the ailing Ira who is full of wisdom and heart. Scott Eastwood may have his father's eyes, smile and sly humor but he's kinda terrible as the hunky bullrider who would've been better off in ads for Calvin Klein underwear.

It may be a long slog but "The Longest Ride" qualifies as the best Nicholas Sparks adaptation since "The Notebook".