The Longest Ride
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 10, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
13
Negative:
17
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireKat HalsteadJun 16, 2015
However contrived this tenth Sparks-to-screen becomes, the emotions and chemistry outweigh the bull. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghApr 9, 2015
"I didn't hate it" isn't a high watermark for praise, but when it comes to most Sparks adaptations, it's practically as good as winning an Oscar. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonApr 7, 2015
A good romance can make us endure an implausible plot as long as the leads have heat. Luke and Sophia's connection feels true. Who cares about the mechanics? By the time The Longest Ride runs right off a cliff, we're already strapped in to the passenger seat. Give in and enjoy the plunge. Read full review
58
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 7, 2015
Overall, The Longest Ride feels cloying and contrived; the only time it’s unpredictable is when the plot takes a turn so utterly unbelievable that, admittedly, no one would see it coming. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriApr 10, 2015
The Longest Ride is actually one of the more competent Sparks films in some years — a far cry from the creaky noir of "Safe Haven," the awkwardly backloaded melodrama of "The Best of Me," or the phony brooding of "The Lucky One." It goes down smoothly, if blandly, like an air-flavored milkshake. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 9, 2015
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 full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickApr 9, 2015
Coming down too hard on this load of schmaltz — as I said when reviewing my first Sparks adaptation back in 2002 — feels like taking a baseball bat to a sack full of newborn kittens. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 9, 2015
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 full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 9, 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. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerApr 8, 2015
Despite undermining its own better qualities, The Longest Ride still 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 full review
42
HitfixDrew McWeenyApr 7, 2015
It would not surprise me if most reviews for this film are openly hostile. It is a wretched piece of writing, and an absurd final product. It almost seems pointless to pile on, though. The audience who loves Sparks is going to go see this film and they'll no doubt walk away satisfied. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 9, 2015
Someone put together a listicle! That’s the kind of criticism this brand was made for. Read full review
40
The DissolveScott TobiasApr 9, 2015
Sparks has to rely on exterior plot machinations because his characters lack any inner life. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 10, 2015
As a romance, a drama, or even a sports movie, The Longest Ride never reaches a satisfying destination. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaApr 10, 2015
The two-hour-plus “Ride,” No. 10 in the series, at least offers a few intriguing new variations on the usual Sparks formula of pretty bland people falling in love against a backdrop of verdantly green landscapes most often located in coastal North Carolina. Read full review
38
Boston GlobePeter KeoughApr 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. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 9, 2015
Slavishly follows the well-worn and soggy Sparks path. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldConnie OgleApr 9, 2015
Merely adding an older generation of lovers to a love story does not make your romance one for the ages. Doesn’t even make it "The Notebook." Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 9, 2015
The moment that first letter is opened and its trite, moony expressions of love and pointless (in a love letter) pages of exposition are narrated, the movie turns Sparks insipid. Read full review
37
Washington PostStephanie MerryApr 9, 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. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 9, 2015
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 full review
30
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesApr 8, 2015
There’s little here to convince the audience of boy and girl’s special chemistry, and nothing to attach the audience to them, either. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 6, 2015
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 full review
30
Screen DailyTim GriersonApr 6, 2015
The Longest Ride plays like cynical fan service to Sparks’ readers, who, it is assumed, will be content to sit back and enjoy a cheap tearjerker, no matter how mouldy its execution is. Read full review
30
VarietyScott FoundasApr 6, 2015
Appealing performances by a trio of second- and third-generation Hollywood kids keep this three-hankie twaddle more bearable than it deserves. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyApr 9, 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. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineEric HendersonApr 9, 2015
There's little doubt where Cormac McCarthy-bashing Sparks's allegiances lie. The Longest Ride is truly no country for old ambiguity. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 9, 2015
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 full review
20
The GuardianJordan HoffmanApr 7, 2015
This is the film’s grossest crime. It’s dumb, it’s long, it’s dull, but it isn’t quite bad enough to be camp. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 9, 2015
In the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy,” John Travolta rode a mechanical bull. In The Longest Ride, Scott Eastwood rides real bulls, but everything else is mechanical. Read full review
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