The Longest Ride

At a rodeo in North Carolina, art history student Sophia Danko's night out takes an unexpected turn when she meets Luke Collins, a bull rider with a fractured past. Their worlds could not be more different, she dreams of curating galleries in New York, he risks his body nightly to save his family's farm. But a car crash on their first date introduces them to Ira Levinson, a 91-year-old widower clutching a box of letters. As Sophia reads Ira's story aloud, the film weaves between two romances separated by seven decades.

Directed by George Tillman Jr., this 2015 adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel earned $63 million worldwide on a $34 million budget. Critics found the dual-narrative structure uneven, but audiences embraced the earnest performances and the film's old-fashioned devotion to love as a force that outlasts tragedy. Scott Eastwood trained six months for the bull riding sequences, performing many of his own stunts. Alan Alda, then 79, spent three hours daily in makeup to become the 91-year-old Ira.[edit]

Sophia Danko is a senior at Wake Forest University, focused on landing a prestigious internship at a New York gallery. On a night out with friends, she attends a rodeo where she meets Luke Collins, a professional bull rider who recently returned to competition after a near-fatal injury. Luke is a fourth-generation cowboy struggling to save his family's farm, which his father mortgaged before dying in a rodeo accident. Despite their different ambitions, they feel an immediate connection.

On their first date, they stop to help an elderly man whose car has crashed. The man is Ira Levinson, a 91-year-old widower who clutches a box of love letters. While Ira recovers in the hospital, Sophia reads the letters aloud, revealing flashbacks to Ira's young adulthood in the 1940s. Young Ira, a farmer's son, meets Ruth at a dance during World War II. Their romance blossoms despite class differences, Ruth comes from a wealthy Jewish family. The letters show how they navigated war, infertility, and financial hardship.

As Sophia reads more, she becomes deeply invested in Ira and Ruth's story, visiting Ira regularly. Luke, initially uncomfortable with Sophia's attention to the elderly stranger, gradually understands Ira's devotion. Meanwhile, Luke prepares for the most dangerous ride of his career at the Professional Bull Riders finals in Las Vegas, while Sophia receives her internship offer. Ira reveals a secret connection between his past and the young couple's present that will force them to reconsider what truly matters.[edit]