Film Review – The Longest Ride
2 min read
Well, it feels like the longest ride, I can tell you that.
Based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks, The Longest Ride centres on a star-crossed love affair between Luke (Scott Eastwood), a former champion bull rider intent on making a comeback, and Sophia (Britt Robertson), a college student who is about to embark upon her dream job in the vibrant art scene of New York City.
It’s the Sparks formula alright. Two young lovers from completely different worlds meet, fall desperately in love and then life threatens to tear them apart.
Luke and Sophia’s relationship is soon tested and when they make a random connection with Ira (Alan Alda), the memories of his own romance with his beloved wife deeply inspires the couple. Sadly, the memories don’t inspire anyone else.
I am very hard on Sparks’ films. Mostly because I don’t think he has had a hit since The Notebook and the success of that film was largely thanks to its talented stars rather than Sparks’ writing ability. Despite the fact that film grossly misinformed its audience on Alzheimer’s disease, there was enough that was right about it to encourage the audience to let the failures slide. However, this poorly researched misinformation seems to be a staple for Sparks’ stories.
The film is beautifully shot though and its actors do the best they can with the substandard material. However, there are probably several viewers that would argue two hours of Eastwood’s abs would probably have been better viewing than what we were presented with. A worn-out, highly implausible plot unfortunately fails to entertain for the two hour running time even if they did manage to snag film veteran Alan Alda and somehow rope him into performing this drivel.
It is contrived, predictable, boring and on the so-called twist at the end – it’s not a twist if you see it coming from a mile away. The ending is so preposterous that it is verging on ridiculous. No one will blame you for laughing.
This is a ride that is sadly not worth the entry fee.
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