The Longest Ride

What's most astonishing about this predictably syrupy screen adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's 2013 bestseller is just how much Scott Eastwood looks like a younger version of his rugged father Clint—and how the camera fawns over his chiseled jaw and muscular physique. Set in North Carolina, Eastwood stars as Luke Collins, a former champion bull rider now trying to make a comeback after suffering a serious head injury. At a rodeo, Luke meets Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson), a studious Wake Forest University senior who is excited about her upcoming internship in New York City's glamorous art world. Luke, of course, is an old-fashioned guy: he calls, rather than texts, and brings flowers on their first date. But despite their differences, they're soon saddling up and riding off together into the sunset. One rainy evening, Luke spies a car that has spun off the road, and he rescues 91-year-old Ira Levinson (Alan Alda), while Sophia grabs Ira's treasured box of letters from the passenger seat. In a signature (and long since tired) Sparks trope, Ira's vivid memories of his beloved, contemporary art-enthusiast wife Ruth are presented in flashback, inspiring Luke and Sophia. Director George Tillman Jr. intertwines these two formulaic narratives—with Jack Huston playing young Ira and Oona Chaplin as vivacious Ruth, a Jewish immigrant from Austria during the 1940s. While the rodeo sequences are exciting—with bucking bull Rango receiving screen credit—the artificial juxtaposition of these two disparate romances is ridiculous and the conclusion is simply flabbergasting. Optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director George Tillman, Jr. and costar Oona Chaplin, the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Meet the Real Bull Riders” (6 min.) and “Luke's Bull Riding School” (5 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted and extended scenes (20 min.), the production segments “A Writer's Journey: A Day in the Life of Nicholas Sparks” (5 min.), “Beyond the Ride” (4 min.), and “Bringing It to Life” (4 min.), and bonus digital and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for another lackluster Sparks adaptation.] (S. Granger)