The Longest Ride is the latest based-on-a-Nicholas-Sparks-book romance-palooza to be coming to theaters. It has come to been accepted that the Sparks adaptations follow a certain formula and while they may not be the most intellectual movies, everyone must experience a few.
The Longest Ride tells the story of Luke, a professional bull rider, and Sophia, an art student. During a particularly shaky time in their relationship they gain wisdom from Ira, an old man whose life they saved, and his stories about his wife Ruth.
As a serious romance, The Longest Ride has failed in almost every respect, especially in the romance between Luke and Sophia. It feels as if two screenwriters took on this movie, one wrote the flashbacks and another wrote present day. The dialogue between the young lovers of today is painful to sit through, reminiscent of the conversations that Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele had in 50 Shades. Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood, Sophia and Luke, gave the audience a cute couple, but their characters just felt messy. Robertson and Eastwood did a fine job with the direction they were given. However, Young Ruth & Ira are a more engaging couple. Their characters feel more dynamic and developed. Oona Chaplin and Jack Huston, Young Ruth and Ira, were pretty phenomenal. The film spanned quite a few years in their relationship and they were able to move with the story. Chaplin was definitely the highlight of the film. There are also the shots that are trademark Sparks recycled from previous movies, the lovers sitting nestled in each other (as seen in Dear John), running on the beach and kissing in a lake (The Notebook) to name a few. The biggest difference is The Longest Ride has a lot more sexuality to it (it is rated R) and it actually works for the movie. Robertson and Eastwood effectively heat things up as do Chaplin and Huston.
As a comedy, The Longest Ride nailed it. While it seemed like Alan Alda (a much older Ira) and Melissa Benoist’s (Sohpie’s best friend) characters were the main comic relief, the entire movie was comic relief. Luke is a man of few words and his interactions with Sophia tended to be awkward and lack the gravity the film seemed to be going for. The film did manage moments of seriousness (Luke’s injuries from bull fighting, Ira and Ruth’s relationship hitting the rocks), but as a whole it tended towards more of a light-hearted comedy. It is a recommended see, but make sure to go with someone and not take the movie too seriously.
The Longest Ride premieres in theaters April 10th, 2015.