The Longest Ride - C-

Quick Hit: Heavy on the sappiness, implausible story lines, but decent acting that leads to a misogynistic conclusion.

I’m going to make a confession here everyone – I’m a hopeless romantic. I still haven’t truly figured out if that is a flaw, or something good about myself, but I’ve accepted the truth of it. I will stand here (or sit) and say (or write) it proudly – I rather enjoy most Rom Coms. ​ There is a beauty and a humor from certain ones that you can’t really find in any other genre of movies. ​Some make statements about ​marriage

 (Couples Retreat, Hall Pass), and some make it about the “Grass is greener effect” (The Change-Up).

Some movies seem to have a mixed message, and The Longest Ride is one of those for me. It tells the story of a young bull rider, Luke Collins (played by Scott Eastwood) that meets a talented young art lover Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson of Tomorrowland fame). Their stories are intertwined with that of Ira Levinson (played by the always fun Alan Alda) and his wife Ruth. Because this is a Nicholas Sparks 

movie, there are love letters that are read (of course) and flashbacks to a past with wraparound porches (are there any other kind).

​Overall, the movie isn’t bad. Eastwood and Robertson have decent chemistry, but it isn’t anything that makes you fly off the rails. In fact, despite the two love stories, neither of them is really believable. Of the two stories, Ira and Ruth are really the more interesting one, despite the fact that it is so  predictable that I could almost have written it from the opening sequence. In fact, the whole movie is predictable – from Rango the bull to the happy ending (I would say spoiler, but come on – if you don’t see that coming, why are you watching a Nicholas Sparks movies?)

Yet another farm porch.

Some problems I have are the fact that Alan Alda only seems to exist in order to serve the primary couple, the fact that the camera is so in love with Eastwood it seems to forget there are other characters, the inclusion of a cowboy villain who seems to be there just to check a box, the inclusion of FOUR rain scenes, that creepster seduction barn scene, and then the ending. Spoilers to follow!
​

Eat your heart out ladies. - P.s. Could he look any more like his dad? Look at that forehead!

***********************************************SPOILERS***********************************************

Let’s talk about this ending here. Sophia gives up her dream of an art studio for Luke, leading to a discussion with Ira about sacrifice in relationships. This is all well and good. However, let’s dive a little deeper into this. Does Luke give up anything for Sophia? Nope – he rides the damn bull, then goes to see her. Does Ira give up anything for Ruth? Nothing like she gives up for him. Ira I excuse here, because obviously he gave her several chances to leave if she wanted to. However, Luke has no excuse. What happens if he dies in that last scene? How does that change the movie? We should all think about that – that basically, in this movie, the men can do what they want and the woman have to sacrifice for love.

Can you please teach me how this works so I can Google your accident prior to 90 minutes in? THANKS!

Because of that ending, it only gets a C- from me.

For more on this movie, check out IMDB.