The Choice (2016)

On a scale of 1 to 10, "The Choice" (PG-13, 1:51) is an 11 – and that's a fact. Hmmm. Maybe I should clarify. It's a fact this is the 11th Nicholas Sparks book to come to the big screen and that's significant. Although the most popular Sparks adaptation is 2004's "The Notebook", the author's big-screen streak started at the end of the last century with the Kevin Costner starrer "Message in a Bottle". The film that rounds out Sparks' first cinematic decathlon is 2015's "The Longest Ride". On one hand, movie adaptations of his books have made a lot of money – an average of nearly 2 ½ times what they cost to make (and that's in U.S. box office receipts alone)! On the other hand, only one Sparks film ("The Notebook") garnered over 50% positive critical reviews as counted by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. But who listens to the critics, right? I like to think you're reading this review because the Movie Fan FB page is run by movie fans and for movie fans. But (big but)… in this case… we agree with the critics. We've enjoyed the Nicholas Sparks movies that we've seen (to varying degrees, of course) – including "The Longest Ride" (his last one before this one) but "The Choice"? Not so much. Allow me to explain… Travis Parker (Benjamin Walker) is a free-wheeling bachelor who lives in a big house on the waters of (what some people have taken to calling) the "Inner Banks" of North Carolina. He has a boat, he's handy with a hammer and he loves animals so much that he became a veterinarian. (Are you swooning yet?) He's also handsome and charming – and he knows it. In fact, he uses his positives to flirt shamelessly and sometimes dates steadily… but never really commits. His new neighbor is Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer). (Naturally, she lives right next door. All the better for Travis and Gabby to eyeball each other.) Gabby is pretty and has a killer bod. She's smart enough to be a medical student, assertive enough to complain when the noise level next door interrupts her studying and she's a fairly deep, spiritual person. She also loves animals. She and Travis each have big dogs, a female for Gabby and a male for Travis. Other than their pets, they have very little in common and their personalities often clash. Their first encounter includes Gabby yelling at Travis and Travis telling Gabby that she bothers him. In spite of (or maybe because of) all that, of course, they fall in love. (And if you think that's a spoiler, then you probably don't know who Nicholas Sparks is and probably wouldn't be going to see this movie anyway.) It also won't come as a surprise to most Movie Fans that Travis and Gabby's romance quickly becomes more complicated than simply some differences in temperament and the way they see the world. For starters, they're both already in relationships with other people. Gabby is practically engaged to the kind and handsome young Dr. Ryan McCarthy (Tom Welling) and Travis is "off-and-on" with the beautiful and devoted Monica (Alexandra Daddario). But that doesn't stop Travis or Gabby from flirting with each other and spending time together privately, and doing… other stuff, when Ryan is out of town and when Monica isn't around. Meanwhile, Travis is being encouraged by his sister, Stephanie (Maggie Grace) and his father, Dr. Shep (Tom Wilkinson), who owns the veterinary practice where Travis works. Of course, sooner or later, Monica is goi

Fmovies: Honestly I had high hopes for this since I enjoyed the book but I hated this movie. I feel like the main characters had no chemistry whatsoever and it felt like they had known each other for a nanosecond before Travis was adamant that he loved Gabby. At least in the book their relationship was developed more so you actually could believe they were in love. I found it hard to get past Travis' ridiculously overdone southern accent, everyone else in the movie has a relatively normal sounding accent that is believable. It sounds like a stereotypical hillbilly accent and was just so off putting. Also, when Gabby's dog has puppies, the newborn 'puppies' were clearly at least a few weeks old. Anyone who has actually seen newborn puppies know that those dogs looked nothing like they should have. With a budget of millions it's ridiculous that they couldn't find some actual newborn puppies to put in the movie. Ridiculous error aside, I thought this movie was boring and completely unbelievable. They could have spent more time on actually developing the characters and made the movie a little longer. Even my Mom who is a sucker for sappy romances and all things Nicholas Sparks thought this movie was awful. This is definiteley one of the worst renditions of a Nicholas Sparks book I've ever seen.

Another Nicholas Sparks' (The Notebook) novel adapted for the screen where there's some love, some sadness, some happiness and a dash of mystery. 'The Notebook' was such a captivating love story that it cemented Mr sparks word on romance as the only word. The many mediocre stories that followed proved otherwise. Perhaps it's in the medium and the storyteller's ability to take the novel and turn it into a successful screenplay? But 'The Last Song', where Mr Sparks flexed his screenplay talents, is without a doubt the worst of the bunch.

Neighbours, Travis and Gabby, meet as most annoying neighbours meet, in a heated engagement over noise, which quickly turns from outrage to mild intrigue to full on schoolyard-smitten.

She's a doctor to be from a wealthy family and he a vet from modest upbringings – complete with a southern accent even though neither his sister nor father shares this accent. How peculiar. Was Benjamin Walker merely flexing his craft for accents or was it that nobody wants to hear Tom Wilkinson attempt a southern accent? And then how does one make the creative decision, do we remove the southern charm or remove Tom Wilkinson? You remove neither and pretend no one will notice, which, as you can see, totally worked. Smooth transition, my foreign soul totally couldn't tell that the Parks family don't share a familial speech pattern. But major digression there.

So, the doctor to be and the wild and crazy animal doctor – I know right, a wild and crazy vet because that's so common to find – more digression.

So, they flirt over a litter of puppies and with a few smooth moves are engulfed in the intoxication of the other. Things seem to be moving on swimmingly until things stop moving along swimmingly. Mainly because it gets a little boring. Or a lot boring, depending on the type of person you are. But the boredom is there, how much you want to drink up is entirely up to you. I personally could have had fifteen per cent less and a tad more T&A but apparently there's more romance in the awkward middle than the sexy beginning.

Give or take a few captivating moments, 'The Choice' is not as moving as 'The Notebook', nor is it as sexy as "The Longest Ride" but it is nowhere near as brain-dead as "The Last Song" – take that for what its worth.

The Choice fmovies. I usually don't write reviews, but this movie was fantastic. The movie pulled at your heart throughout the entire movie. Its funny, sexy, and sad with a case of real life thrown in for good measure. The characters are fantastic, and the setting on the coast if beautiful. Did you ever have that real love in your live, and you could feel it slipping away, well this is the movie for you. What did you do to get it back, or to try and get it back? Did you walk away and say it wasn't meant to be, or did you fight for it? Did you give it your all? Well, take a watch of this one, and see what happens. You will be glad you went for a spin. Be prepared for a roller coaster for ups and downs on the emotional scale. In the end, can you make The Choice?

Greetings again from the darkness. When the word formulaic is used to describe a movie or book, it's typically meant as a disparagement. We must admit, however, that if the formula works, it only makes sense (and dollars) to stick with it. Most Hollywood blockbuster franchises are built around a basic formula – superheroes, romantic-comedies, alien invasions, etc. Author Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook) has taken his tragic-romance novel formula and turned it into big screen gold. This is the eleventh film developed from his writing, and it's likely to be another successful entry into the Sparks canon.

Director Ross Katz (Adult Beginners, 2015) is at the helm of the screenplay by Bryan Sipe (upcoming Demolition) and many of the familiar Sparks features are present. First off, the key players are all exceedingly attractive – Ralph Lauren model attractive. Secondly, there is a will they/won't they romance that will of course happen and then may fall apart, but probably won't. And third, some type of tragedy will occur that will kick off a stream of tears from a certain segment of the audience.

This one begins with a narrator's humble-brag promising to tell us the "secret of life". That narrator is Travis, played with an over-flowing abundance of southern charm by Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2012). His main vices are a tendency to use "damn" to the point of overkill in most every conversation, and his natural ability to attract the ladies. Oh, and he has a rescue dog and a lake house and he is a veterinarian. See, in the Sparks universe, everyone is beautiful and successful. Travis has his eye on his new neighbor, who is pretending to be annoyed but mostly admits to playing a game of hard-to-get. This is Gabby (Teresa Palmer, Warm Bodies 2013), and she is beautiful and a doctor-to-be. Gabby's current boyfriend is, of course, a handsome doctor. Ryan is played by Tom Welling (a bit heftier than his days as Clark Kent/Superman in "Smallville").

The beautiful Maggie Grace (Taken) plays Travis' sister, and Alexandra Daddario (San Andreas) plays Monica … she is not only beautiful, but she is also the nicest, most understanding and supportive "other" woman ever seen on screen. Tom Wilkinson plays Travis' veterinarian dad, and Sharon Blackwood plays the wise-cracking and match-making assistant Cora. If that's not enough beauty and success for you, we also get "puppies in a basket"! Come for the chuckles and tears … just not twists or surprises. Fans of this genre will get exactly what they want. It's a romantic fantasy set in the somewhat realistic world of doctors, veterinarians, and equestrians. The faces are perfect. The dialogue is snappy without being demanding (even in the God discussion). Many scenes feature loyal dogs, or a serene lake, or the "moon and stars". Even the difficult parts of life – raising kids, health issues, etc – are given the "yada, yada, yada" treatment. While Travis claims over and over that Gabby "bothers him", it's the kind of bother that creates a cryfest in the theatre … whether things go right or wrong. It's also the reason that all eleven Sparks films feature a couple of lovers on the poster. Just remember, if that formula works ….

As Nicholas Sparks' film adaptations go, Ross Katz's "The Choice" is a better film than the bland "Longest Ride" we got last year and certainly miles past the perplexing and downright unbelievable "Safe Haven" in 2013. With that being said, it's still burdened by the same kind of misguided tropes and cloying incredulity that makes each of these films a chore to sit through. These films come decorated in the same kind of clothing as the next, as they're built from the ground up on impossibly romantic circumstances, characters that always look beautiful no matter what, a truly tragic plot device played up perfectly to engineer an emotional reaction rather than naturally warrant one, and a slew of "perfect moments" to make your relationship with your significant other look like a slog. And, specific to this one, seriously questionable treatment of its female character. Happy Valentine's Day.

This time, we focus on Travis Parker (Benjamin Walker), a veterinarian working with his father (Tom Wilkinson) at his practice, living in the small coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina. Travis lives on his own and enjoys the peacefulness brought on by cold beer, his beach chair, and his dog, until his quietness is disrupted by his new neighbor Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer). Gabby is a med student, who is currently dating a fellow doctor, but her playfully stubborn aura makes her all the more attractive to Travis.

When her boyfriend leaves for a medical retreat for several weeks, the two succumb to intense emotional desires, have sex, and begin to that thing that so many young people do nowadays where they act like they're dating to others, have sex and sleep together like they are, but really aren't together. When her boyfriend gets back, Gabby immediately wants things to go back to the way things were before he left, leaving Travis out to dry, and making them both look like immature, stupid people who can't appropriately handle or discuss their own baggage. Nonetheless, Gabby winds up breaking up with him and her and Travis wind up getting married and starting a family of their own.

This may sound like I just went through the entire film's plot, but that wouldn't make sense since I never addressed the core "choice" this film and its two lead characters love to talk about through narration. Well, "the choice" comes towards the end, when a catastrophic accident occurs and leaves one of the parties with a big decision. However, Katz (who directed "Adult Beginners" two years ago) and screenwriter Bryan Sipe rush through this whole circumstance at the end like it's a big afterthought. The fundamental "choice" of the film isn't introduced until far too late in the picture, where it can't develop, and as a result, feels like a tacked on conclusion.

"The Choice" is a tad more forgivable than many other Sparks-branded pictures because at least one of our leads has an ounce of personality this time around. Benjamin Walker's, who already looks and talks like a young Colin Firth, Travis is a very snarky character throughout the picture, which at least makes him an interesting personality rather than a plastic presence. Teresa Palmer's Gabby is a blander, more ordinary female lead, but her ability to handle the more dramatic scenes with competence makes up for her lack of character development.

I think the most problematic thing about "The Choice" as a whol