Unfortunately, Chaplin's brilliance, Alda's funny crustiness, and Eastwood's vulnerability aren't enough to keep this film afloat.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 17, 2015

The Longest Ride is a weak sauce addition to the Sparks empire, a little better than last year's The Best of Me, but miles below uber-Sparks work The Notebook.

| Nov 10, 2015

Like all of Sparks's stories it's corny as hell, but there's an unabashed, old-fashioned charm that gradually warms the cockles and moistens the eye.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 21, 2015

Shamelessly sentimental.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 18, 2015

So soaked in Americana you feel as if you've been repeatedly vomited upon by a bald eagle.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 18, 2015

One of those rare films whose porn version will have the same title.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 18, 2015

It's no The Notebook, and when that's a seriously meant criticism, you're in trouble.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 18, 2015

However contrived this tenth Sparks-to-screen becomes, the emotions and chemistry outweigh the bull.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 15, 2015

Sparks must be doing something right.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 17, 2015

The Longest Ride is pretty darn tolerable - and sometimes even enjoyable - not just for fans but also for regular people who are, you know, cynical.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 11, 2015

You can forget about The Longest Ride being a competent movie; it's far from that. However, Sparks fans will be happy to know that my sleeve was damp by the end because my wife had no Kleenex handy.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 10, 2015

The Longest Ride has as much bull as the 10 previous Sparks adaptations. This is one of the few you can ride for longer than eight seconds.

| Apr 10, 2015

Look, it's easy to laugh at this stuff - that's part of the game, in fact. To buy into these movies, you have to buy into the silliness. But The Longest Ride, for all its ridiculousness, comes by its emotions honestly.

| Apr 10, 2015

You heard of "Star Wars"? Films based on Sparks' books could be called "Star-Crossed Wars."

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 10, 2015

People don't go to Sparks movies for subtlety; they go to warm their hearts by bearing witness to true love. Of course, that requires a story that rings true. In "The Longest Ride," authenticity is in short supply.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 10, 2015

Eventful, polished, and knuckle-bitingly dull, the 10th film adapted from a novel by Nicholas Sparks, combines fate, bull riding and some powerful Hollywood bloodlines among its young cast.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 10, 2015

"The Longest Ride" treats us to a twist that's so ridiculous I think we're almost supposed to laugh. It's not quite on the "Are you KIDDING ME!?" level of awfulness as the big reveal in "Safe Haven," but it's close. It's close.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.0 | Apr 9, 2015

It takes a lot to bore your easily entertained correspondent but rest assured The Longest Ride has the goods.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 9, 2015

Can the ailing Ira help the young lovers work things out in his limited time left on earth - or even afterward? Let's just say Sparks works up to an ending that's as shamelessly preposterous as it is predictable.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 9, 2015

It tries to bridge the gap between pop culture and cultural elitism, between high art and the common commodity that everyone else buys tickets to see. A worthy goal, but it results in a movie that has none of the virtues of either.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 9, 2015