The Presbyterian Outlook

News and Articles from the The Presbyterian Outlook

Register Login Donate Subscribe

Top Search/Contact Area

  • Be A Fan

  • Follow Us

  • Photos

  • Pin It!

    • Home
      • About us
      • Advertise with the Outlook
      • Submissions
    • Presbyterian Hub
      • Editorials
      • Outlook Features
      • Digital Issues
      • Editor’s viewpoints
      • What’s right?
      • About People
      • Calendar Check
    • News +
      Current Affairs
      • Outlook Reporting
      • Presbyterian News Service
      • Religion News Service
      • News from other sources
    • Ministry + Theology
      • InSights Opinions
      • Benedictory
      • Guest commentary
    • Faith + Culture
      • Book Reviews
      • Those with ears to hear (music reviews)
      • He/She Said
      • Movie Reviews
    • Ministry Resources
      • Outlook Standard Lessons
      • Outlook Horizons Studies
      • Looking into the lectionary
      • Bulletin Inserts
      • Webinars
      • Hymns
    • Outpost Blog
    • Classifieds
      • Classified advertising

    The Longest Ride

    April 25, 2015 by Ronald P. Salfen 1 Comment

    The_Longest_Ride_posterYou would expect a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book to be a sappy romance… and it is. But it’s also a celebration of long-lasting marriage, which we Presbyterians welcome anywhere in cinema.

    Scott Eastwood (yes, the son of Clint Eastwood, and the resemblance is startling) plays Luke Collins, an ambitious professional bull rider. He’s eager to make it to the top of the world rankings, though he’s already suffered some serious injuries in the process (which he says happens to all the real pros). He happens to meet Sophia (Britt Robertson), a sorority girl from Wake Forest who’s going to graduate in a couple of months. They hit it off immediately, even though they come from different worlds. But they also both realize that there doesn’t seem to be much future for them since she’s an art major who’s already accepted a post-graduate internship at a prestigious gallery in New York City and he’s committed to the rodeo circuit. Not much intersection there, but they date a couple of times because neither can deny the mutual attraction.

    On the way back from one of those dates, they happen across a fresh wreck, an automobile that has plunged off an embankment and is starting to catch fire. Luke impulsively rushes to see if someone needs his help, with Britt close behind. When they arrive at the crash scene, they find an almost-unconscious older gentleman, whom Luke pulls out of the wreckage while Sophia retrieves the basket he was babbling about.

    The man, Ira Levinson (Alan Alda), recovers in the hospital, but is depressed. He recently lost his lifelong wife, Ruth, and he re-reads the basket of letters that he wrote to her over the years. When Sophia visits him in the hospital to check on him, he persuades her to read the letters to him. This, of course, provides the occasion for lots of flashback scenes: a much younger Ira (Jack Huston, Anjelica Huston’s nephew) and the lively, artistic Ruth (Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin), in a whirlwind romance prior to World War II. Ira goes off to the war, but unfortunately is injured there (trying to save another soldier) and winds up unable to have a family. This is a great sorrow to them both, and it almost defeats the relationship – but eventually they settle into a life that includes much togetherness and a lot of art collecting.

    You can see where this is going: The presentation of Ira and Ruth’s lifelong romance, despite the absences and obstacles, is starting to make Luke and Sophia think twice about assuming that it wasn’t in the cards for them. OK, for all you true romantics out there: When it’s the right person, you make it work. Because real love involves sacrifice. And compromise.

    Expect many happy romantic scenes, from fields of bright flowers blowing in the breeze, to the local watering hole, to a romp in the clover. It’s a little steamy in places for the kids, but maybe the teenagers in the youth group would benefit from seeing a celebration of mutual commitment, a commodity which is otherwise in short supply in Hollywood these days (Alan Alda’s 58 years of marriage being a notable exception).

    OK, so it’s a little sappy. How many movies make you want to walk out of the theater holding hands with your spouse?

    Questions for discussion:

    • Ira says that “love demands sacrifice.” Do you agree with that on a romantic basis? How about its Christological implications?
    • Though the term “soul mate” is not used in this film, that’s what’s implied here. Do you believe that there is only one of those out there for each person?
    • Both Luke and Sophia and Ira and Ruth appear to consummate their love prior to marriage. Does that appear to be increasingly common? Do you think it’s the kind of moral issue that requires forewarning the youth group?

    Ronald P. Salfen is the supply pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Kaufman, Texas.

    Click here to read Ron Salfen’s roundtable interview with Noclas Sparks, Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson.

    ShareShare on Facebook
    Facebook
    Tweet about this on Twitter
    Twitter
    Email to someone
    email

    Movie Reviews

    Trackbacks

    1. Roundtable interview with “The Longest Ride” writer and cast - The Presbyterian Outlook says:
      April 25, 2015 at 5:00 am

      […] Click here to read Ron Salfen’s film review of “The Longest Ride.” […]

      Log in to Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Related Posts

    • Dark Water

      "Dark Water" is one of those creepy/tingly films that you don't think you want to see, then pulls you into its dreary, dank interior until you go home not wanting to turn on a water faucet. Jennifer Connelly plays Dahlia, a just-separated Mom in the midst of trying to work…

    • Kingdom of Heaven

      Yes, it's the Crusades, and the Church can't help but come off badly: you'll save your immortal soul if you'll go kill some infidels? But for those who love the Church, it's worse than that: early on, the parish priest goes to the blacksmith's shop to assure the young recent…

    • A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

      British humor: an ordinary bloke gets to tour the galaxies with hyperspace intergalactic travel, and all he can think about is that he can't get a good cup of tea anywhere. Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up one morning in his ramshackle house in the country, only to discover that…

    Current Issue

    • December 9, 2019
    • November 11, 2019
    • October 21, 2019
    • October 7, 2019
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Gift
    • Read Online
    • Most Commented
    • Most Popular
    • What is the future of Stony Point Center?  Mission Agency Board to consider $10.3 million proposal A group within the Presbyterian Mission Agency considering the future of Stony Point Center is recommending spending at least $10.3...
    • Will Stony Point Center become a mission arm of the Presbyterian Mission Agency? A look ahead at this week’s PMA board meeting The leadership of the Presbyterian Mission Agency is proposing a new focus for Stony Point Center— moving from the current...
    • Board announces changes involving PC(USA) administrative services The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation met in closed session Jan. 16 and later announced it had...
    • Prayer for El Paso Enough, Lord God, enough. Rend our hearts and restore your goodness and mercy in our land. Through you, all things are...
    • Rachel Held Evans, Christian writer of honesty and humor, dies at age 37 (RNS) — Rachel Held Evans, a popular progressive Christian writer and speaker, died Saturday morning (May 4) at age 37...
    • Hymns for Advent and Christmas (Year A) Presbyterian hymn writer, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, composed Advent hymns based on the lectionary Scriptures set to familiar Christmas tunes and other...

    Keep the Faith

    Sign Up for Updates and Breaking News in your inbox

    Facebook

    Tweets by presoutlook
    Follow Us

    View Stories From

    • Presbyterian Hub
      • Editorials
      • Outlook Features
      • Digital Issues
      • Calendar Check
      • About People
        • Anniversaries
        • Ordinations
        • Retired
        • Deaths
        • Transitions
      • Archives
    • Faith + Culture
      • Book Reviews
      • Movie Reviews
      • He/She Said
    • Ministry + Theology
      • InSights Opinions
        • For Church Leaders
        • Faith Matters
        • Multichannel Church Report
        • #amen
        • Commentary
        • Benedictory
      • Liturgical Year
        • Advent
        • Lent

    The Latest:

    Solvitur ambulando

    December 11, 2019

    Presbyterians hold “die-in” to raise awareness of climate change

    December 11, 2019

    Minnesota church fights to keep member from being deported

    December 10, 2019

  • Tweet With Us
  • Be A Facebook Fan
  • Our World in Photos
  • Pin With Us
  • CONTACT US:

    1 N. 5th St., Suite 500

    Richmond, VA 23219

    T: 800-446-6008F: 804-353-6369

    [email protected]

    Or ▶ Fill Out Our Contact Form

    © Copyright 2019 The Presbyterian Outlook. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement. Website Design by Poka Yoke Design

    • About us
    • Presbyterian Hub
    • Ministry Resources
    • Classifieds
    • Advertise with the Outlook
    • Submissions
    7ads6x98y