Photo Source: EW
Recognizing that I’m a Nicholas Sparks fan, I was excited to receive passes to an advance screening of The Longest Ride, which is based on his novel. The movie’s luscious rural North Carolina setting looks nothing like Toronto, so it was nice to escape and be swept away by the romantic script.
Sophia (Britt Robertson) is a college senior eager to finish school and start building a career in New York’s art scene. When her sorority sisters drags her to a rodeo, she meets Luke (Scott Eastwood) and starts dating the bull rider. Meanwhile, their love story is intertwined with another, which dates back to the 1940s.
After rescuing Ira, an elderly man, from a car crash, Luke and Sophia read love letters he wrote to his late wife Rose, who shares Sophia’s passion for art. Ira and Rose’s relationship is not highlighted in the trailer, yet I believe it deserves more attention because the characters are stronger and their life is relatively more intriguing. They are by far the more charming couple.
By no means is The Longest Ride this year’s answer to The Notebook, but some audiences may find that it comes close. Will this be a classic? Probably not. However, Britt Robertson has clearly matured as an actress since starring in The First Time and she looks cute with Clint Eastwood’s son.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU’]