If you are a Nicholas Sparks fan, get excited for the newest novel-to-movie offering. The Longest Ride opened in theaters on Friday, April 10, and gives Sparks’ fans what they expect from his stories, and much more. The Longest Ride is a story of love, young and old, new and lasting, through cleverly-articulated parallel accounts of two pairs of lovers in different time periods, while they both learn that “Love requires sacrifice….always.”
The story opens with Luke Collins, the number one ranked bull rider from a small North Carolina town, getting thrown from his ride, and resulting in a major injury that sidelines him for a year. As he mounts his comeback, he meets Sophia Danko, a native New Jersey college student finishing her last semester at Wake Forrest with plans to pursue an art career in New York City as soon as she graduates. Luke, played by newcomer Scott Eastwood, and Sophia, played by Britt Robertson in her second starring role, have an instant connection but plan to say goodbye at the end of their first date to pursue their very different dreams.
On the way home, they find Ira Levinson, played spectacularly by Alan Alda, in his car after it crashes through a guardrail in the pouring rain. They bring Ira and his beloved box of letters to the hospital where Sophia sees through Ira’s curmudgeonly exterior and they begin an unexpected and unusual friendship. Sophia visits the healing Ira daily and reads to him his love letters to his beloved Ruth as he can no longer see well enough to read them himself.
Through his letters we learn Ira and Ruth’s love story, from their first meeting at his father’s store until they eventually part through circumstances beyond their control. Ruth is an immigrant from Vienna fleeing persecution by the Nazis in 1940, but she brings with her a love and passion for art, which is something that Ira also sees in Sophia. However, Ira and Ruth’s story includes heartbreak and regret. Ira was injured during his service in World War II and cannot father children, though it was Ira and Ruth’s dream to raise a large family. This issue haunts them throughout their marriage.
Through Ira and Ruth’s story of love, sacrifice, and perseverance, Sophia and Luke try to make things work even with their very different backgrounds and their polarized ideas of the future, complicated by Luke’s failure to be honest with Sophia about his prognosis if he continues bull riding. His initial injury caused permanent damage, and it is highly possible that Luke will not be lucky enough to walk away from another injury. But Luke refuses to give up the sport and continues to pursue his comeback.
The viewers are drawn into the stories of both Luke and Sophia and Ira and Ruth as the tale of enduring love, loss, and sacrifice are spanned over a period of several decades, from Ira and Ruth’s meeting in 1940 through Luke and Sophia’s romance today. Sparks is a master storyteller in tying these two relationships together through the letters while Luke and Sophia learn so much from the enduring love of Ira and Ruth.
The acting of all the players in the film was fantastic, from the very handsome Eastwood, who is the son of acclaimed actor and director Clint Eastwood, to the cute Robertson, whose only prior headliner was Ask Me Anything in 2014, to Jack Huston and Oona Chaplin who appeared as the young Ira and Ruth. But Alda as the elderly Ira stole the show. His acting skills have not waned with age. He showed great emotion—pain, heartbreak, hope, and love—through his eyes and he drew in his viewers to his great romance with Ruth even though he only appeared in a small portion of the film. To feel these emotions with Alda is worth the price of admission. Just remember to bring the box of tissues.
IMAGE TAKEN from latimes.com
