Nicholas Sparks is a love guru, movie-making mastermind, of this, we are all aware. But, since The Notebook’s release in 2004, we’ve all been waiting for one of his movies to somehow come close to rivaling the epic love story Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams brought to life.
There have been a few that have entertained us: The Last Song, because you can’t help but love Liam Hemsworth, Dear John, because…Channing Tatum, duh, Safe Haven, because Julianne Hough’s hair is amazing and Josh Duhamel is a sexual human being. And, of course, A Walk to Remember, which if you don’t bawl your eyes out every time you watch, you’re probably not human.
While some of his movies have become revered household love stories, there have also been some major flops that have in some ways deterred us from trusting completely in the widely adored writer. For example, 2012’s The Lucky One. What was that? Even the insanely good looks of Zac Efron couldn’t keep us from noticing how awful the film actually was. What even was the storyline there? Then there was The Best of Me, which premiered last year to the lowest opening yet of any of the Nicholas Sparks book adaptations. There always seems to be something missing that would take these films to The Notebook level. Yes, that's really a level.
Ever since 1999, when his books hit the big screen for the first time with Message in a Bottle, Nicholas Sparks films have earned more than $800 million, Deadline reports. But, lately, it seems that Sparks has lost some of his mojo in trying to crank out a film almost every year.
If you’ve in any way started to question the abilities of Sparks, you need to see The Longest Ride. It will restore your faith in both the author and love itself, mostly because he somehow seamlessly weaves together bull riding with art history, and the mid-20th century with the 21st century in a story that will make you cry almost as frequently as A Walk to Remember. While it may not beat The Notebook, it comes close in its emotional appeal, which is saying a lot.
The film tells the story of Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood), a pro bull riding champion who was once seriously injured by the infamous bull, Rango, but is working towards making a comeback. While trying to stage said comeback, he meets Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson), an art history major at Wake Forest University dragged to the rodeo against her will by her sorority sisters, where she meets the blue-squinty-eyed bull rider. You start to wonder why Luke doesn’t just give up the dangerous sport that almost took his life, until you learn that his earnings help keep his farm and mother afloat. Hello, adorable!
Their first date is the first swoon-worthy moment, with Luke walking through Wake Forest’s famously preppy campus in a cowboy hat and cowboy boots bearing flowers and a ten-dollar smile before sweeping Sophia away to a lakeside picnic. And so their love story begins.
Sophia has an internship lined up in the fall at an art gallery in Manhattan, while Luke is dead-set on returning to the top of the rodeo circuit. Naturally, it appears a relationship between the two of them isn’t a feasible option -- that is, until they meet Ira Levinson (Alan Alda), an old man they pull from a car wreck who had his own truly touching love story. His story and the story of his wife, Ruth, is revealed through letters he kept throughout their marriage and courtship, which takes place in the 1940’s. Played in flashbacks by Jack Huston and Oona Chaplin, the mid-20th-century romance sheds light on the hardships Luke and Sophia encounter in today’s world.
The film somehow ties together a passionate love of modern art, including references to the famed Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and professional athleticism in the form of riding a bull for eight seconds. It sounds bizarre, but ultimately works to form an endearing tale that Sparks fans can be proud of.
The film, directed by George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete), cinematically plays with color to help draw contrasts between the different time periods. The appreciation for modern art is an unexpected feature of the movie and is unique when compared to previous Sparks films. Ultimately, the final twist in the movie is completely unpredictable and leaves the audience with something to smile about after fully crying off their mascara (assuming that 90% of viewers will be female and inevitably wearing mascara).
If nothing else, the movie is worth the ticket price just to see Clint Eastwood’s spawn strut around shirtless. Both of the young starring actors are sure to shoot up in Hollywood, with Eastwood’s jaw line and Robinson’s upcoming film Tommorrowland, also starring George Clooney. Remember what happened to Shailene Woodley’s career after she worked with George? Just a little franchise film we like to call Divergent.
The Longest Ride hits theaters today!
Credit: INFphoto.com