Quick Hit: Heavy on the sappiness, implausible story lines, but decent acting that leads to a misogynistic conclusion.
(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
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! ***********************************************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.
4 Comments
5/31/2016 09:59:24 am
I've never seen The Longest Ride, but I did see the most recent Nicholas Sparks movie "The Choice" and thought it was mostly garbage.
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5/31/2016 11:30:41 am
I remember enjoying some of his movies, sure, though I haven't seen very many of them. Leave a Reply. |
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