The Longest Ride

Mash every big-screen take on a Nicholas Sparks novel into a heart-warming pulp and you’d get the ‘The Longest Ride’. Adapted from his seventeenth (!) romantic magnum opus, this one features frolicking in the rain (as in ‘The Notebook’), war (‘The Lucky One’), letter-writing (‘Dear John’) and even a schmaltzy life lesson (all of the above).

The movie follows a young couple, art student Sophia (Britt Robertson) and bullfighter Luke (Scott Eastwood), as they learn about true love from Ira, a widower they saved from a car wreck. As Ira recalls the sacrifices he and his wife Ruth made in the ’40s and ’50s, we see their relationship play out as a series of flashbacks.

While Sophia and Luke’s fling comes off like an Abercrombie ad – horse riding, plaid shirts, limited likability – Ruth and Ira’s relationship is the emotional crux of the movie. Played by Oona Chaplin (daughter of Charlie) and Jack Huston, the actors give their oversimplified storyline a genuine sense of depth and tragedy. Yes, this is a cliché-swamped fairy tale, but you’ll be crying happy tears as everything ties up in a satisfying bow at the end.