Movie review | ‘The Longest Ride’ adapts yet another Sparks novel

The Longest Ride ***

If you leave the inevitable Nicholas Sparks’ story contrivances behind, you might actually enjoy his latest book-turned-tear-jerker romance movie for what it is; a Nicholas Sparks book-turned tear-jerker romance movie.

That the two primary leads, Britt Robertson as college senior Sophia, and Scott Eastwood as rodeo bull riding champ Luke, are both supermodel good looking can be forgiven.

That Sparks is in love with his native North Carolina is to be expected, and even admired. The clever tale is part period romance, with flashbacks to 1940-1960, and part modern romance between two would-be lovers torn between diverging paths.

Alan Alda plays 90-year-old Ira Levinson, whose life becomes intertwined with the characters played by Robertson and Eastwood, who is, by the way, as you may have suspected, Clint Eastwood’s son.

Alda’s younger self, played by Jack Houston, was well-paired with the character’s love interest circa 1940, Ruth, played by Oona Chaplin, who perhaps delivered the most emotive and believable performances of the film.

The beautiful summertime rural landscapes of central and western North Carolina are beautifully showcased, as is the former Black Mountain College campus, once an influential artists school and retreat, and now a boys’ summer camp located near Asheville, N.C.

The bull riding sequences are visually jarring, and serve to add tension leading to the movie’s climax, which offers a predictable end through Sparks’ signature twists. The best way to enjoy this movie for its many admirable qualities is to do what Alda’s character teaches his young charges about relationships; focus on what you have, not what you lack.

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Movie review | ‘The Longest Ride’ adapts yet another Sparks novel."