The Longest Ride (2015)
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A professional bull rider and an art student find their lives intertwined after helping an elderly man and discovering a collection of letters and paintings.
The story
Professional bull rider Luke Collins meets Sophia Danko, an art student at Wake Forest University, after she attends a PBR event. On the way home from their first date, they spot a car crash in the woods and help rescue an elderly man from the vehicle, along with a box full of letters. In the hospital, Sophia visits the 91-year-old man she rescued, Ira Levinson. He explains the letters are what he wrote as a teen to his late wife, Ruth, and she offers to read them to him, which tell the story of how they met and fell in love in 1940.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After rescuing Ira Levinson, Sophia reads his letters to his late wife, Ruth, revealing their love story starting in 1940. The narrative jumps between the present, where Luke and Sophia fall in love despite their different worlds, and the past, where Ira and Ruth navigate life together. Ruth, unable to have children, eventually adopts a boy named Daniel. In the present, Luke is injured and faces the end of his riding career, leading to a breakup with Sophia. After Ira passes away, Luke and Sophia attend an auction of his paintings. Luke buys a portrait of Ruth, and the auctioneer reveals it grants him the entire collection. The two reconcile and marry, eventually opening an art gallery dedicated to Ira and Ruth's legacy, where they visit a special tree to read the letters together.
- First release year
- 2015
- Runtime (minutes)
- 128
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- George Tillman Jr.
- Writers
- Craig Bolotin · writer
- Cast and characters
- Britt Robertson · Sophia Danko; Scott Eastwood · Luke Collins; Jack Huston · Young Ira; Oona Chaplin · Ruth; Alan Alda · old Ira
- Genres
- romantic drama; Western
- Themes
- love; sacrifice; legacy
- Tone and mood
- romantic; sentimental
- Premise and plot tags
- dual timeline; romance; sports
- Source material / true-story basis
- Nicholas Sparks' 2013 novel
- Reception
- The film received negative reviews from critics, described as saccharine and contrived, though it received a high CinemaScore from audiences.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 31% · review count: 124
- Awards and nominations
- Teen Choice Award · winning films · win
- Production trivia
- The PBR served as the technical advisor and producer for the bull riding events.; The film features a collection of paintings worth almost $200 million.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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