‘The Longest Ride’ Review: Shallow Sparks

Although it is close to useless to expect anything novel from any film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, it isn’t unreasonable to look for anything other than convenient storytelling. Unfortunately, The Longest Ride, the latest in the seemingly endless series of Sparks-spawned vanilla romances, is as reliant on conveniences and cheap emotional tugging as the rest. 

Different worlds

Sophia (Britt Robertson) already has her life planned out until she gets charmed by Luke (Scott Eastwood), a bull-rider who wants to resurrect his career after an accident from a year ago.

As with most of Sparks’ love stories, Sophia and Luke’s is one that is not supposed to work. They are from different worlds. Sophia is sophisticated, passionate about art and all that. Luke, on the other hand, is the stereotypical cowboy, down-to-earth with too-humble ambitions. 

It would take Ira Levinson (Alan Alda), an old man they rescue from a road mishap who has a love story very similar to Sophia and Luke’s, to inject some sense into the minds and hearts of the young would-be lovers. Through letters and stories, he (played as a young man by Jack Huston) recounts his romance with Ruth (Oona Chaplin), which has been threatened by war, jarring interests, and other more complicated things.

Sparks and stereotypes 

The Longest Ride has two romances being told side by side. Inevitably, one trumps the other. Ira and Ruth’s romance, draped with a semblance of old-fashioned purity, is the more interesting of the two love stories. That really isn’t saying much, since the movie is still evidently humdrum, content with only touching the surface of what it takes to love, and the sacrifices it talks a lot about.

Sophia and Luke’s side of the story is all for posturing. Luke is the quintessential modern prince charming, ruggedly handsome and raised with all the good virtues of middle America. Sophia represents the demographic Sparks and this movie he inspired seem to be reaching out to: urbane hopeless romantic who fantasize about living their happily-ever-afters with their perfect cowboys. 

Just gimmicks 

That said, The Longest Ride will undoubtedly please viewers who are in it for its slightness, for its predictable perspective on the power of love. It is a movie that is only good for an erstwhile high, a momentary buzz. Its danger lies in the fact that it espouses an appreciation of love that is farfetched, one that is reliant on external forces to work rather than the couple working out their differences.

The movie is all about appearances. It has the gloss and the structure that would lead one to believe that it is making grand statements about love. It teases of a world worth visiting, of men from far-off ranches achieving greatness by riding angry bulls, of women willing to risk everything for a chance at love, of a love affair that worked despite the many odds against it. 

However, the movie’s seemingly complex structure is just there to differentiate it from the horde of tragic romances that came before it. They are but gimmicks that do not do anything to sway the movie from still being as shallow as the tears it begs out of its audience. – Rappler.com 

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema. Profile photo by Fatcat Studios