The Longest Ride 2015

Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: 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. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: 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. Read more

Sandy Cohen, Associated Press: The film is likely to satisfy Sparks fans. And it brings something new to the romance genre: bull riding. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: 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. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: Appealing performances by a trio of second- and third-generation Hollywood kids keep this three-hankie twaddle more bearable than it deserves, but "Ride" will surely go the longest with audiences for whom this is not their first Sparks rodeo. Read more

Jesse Hassenger, AV Club: Qualifies as one of the best Sparks films by virtue of not including any love-ghosts or destructive misinformation about how Alzheimer's works. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: It's exactly what you'd expect, except executed with more-than-typical competence with the help of a few excellent actors and some gorgeously photographed rodeo scenes that capture the drama and thrill of bull riding. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Though Tillman doesn't quite elevate the maudlin material into serious drama, the result is uncommonly sensitive. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Even when Eastwood and Robertson, pleasant enough company, threaten to float off the screen, "The Longest Ride" glides along and delivers its reheated comfort food by the ton. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Just as the basic plot points are hard to swallow, even the most rudimentary aspects of the characters' interactions feel forced, artificial and unspontaneous. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: The two-plus hours is mostly marked by an emptiness born of scene after scene designed to blatantly manipulate emotions rather than trigger them. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: It's easy to tease a Nicholas Sparks movie. It's harder to admit that he's good at his niche - and has a string of 10 films, nearly all profitable, to prove it Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Merely adding an older generation of lovers to a love story does not make your romance one for the ages. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The young Eastwood is better than you might expect, though it's Chaplin who shines in this Nicholas Sparks romance. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The movie has nowhere to go and spends more than two hours getting there. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: If this is your particular poison, it won't kill you. But anyone averse to Sparks' sappy touch may get sick from all the bull. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Fairly tedious, despite the charm and sincerity of the actors. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As a romance, a drama, or even a sports movie, The Longest Ride never reaches a satisfying destination. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: "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. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Carolina settings, star-crossed lovers, elements of tragedy: Sparks' formula works. Get out your handkerchiefs, and rest assured that there will be uplift at the end. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Everything in the movie is suffused by a vision of life that is resoundingly and evidently false, but as this vision is not repulsive, but is intended to reassure, the lies don't produce anger or frustration. No, they bring on the laughs. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This is spoon-fed entertainment, but it tastes pretty good. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: 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. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It runs a long 128 minutes. You have to wade through not just puddles of tears, but also piles of BS. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: The real love story is between Eastwood and David Tattersall's camera, which spends so much time leering over the actor's cheekbones, abs and other attributes that you begin to wonder if someone's going to call Human Resources. Read more

Liz Braun, Toronto Sun: It takes a lot to bore your easily entertained correspondent but rest assured The Longest Ride has the goods. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The Longest Ride is sentimental, forced and silly, but it's sure to hit the bull's-eye with its intended audience. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: 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. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: 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. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Conforms to a timeworn, and shopworn, Sparks formula of troubled protagonists receiving wisdom, or inspiration, or both, from unexpected sources. Read more