Nicholas Sparks offers two love stories for the price of one in the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of his novel “The Longest Ride.” Directed by George Tillman Jr. from a script by Craig Bolotin, it’s the story of a young woman who finds parallels between her burgeoning relationship in the present and the World War II love story of an elderly man she befriends.
Britt Robertson and Alan Alda take center stage after Robertson’s boyfriend in the film, played by Scott Eastwood, discovers Alda’s wrecked car on the side of the road. Robertson commiserates with Alda in the hospital where she offers to read him love letters from his youth, portrayed in flashbacks by Jack Huston.
The letters transport the two back to the 1940s, when Robertson discovers parallels between Alda’s old flame and herself. Much as Eastwood drives her to worry with his love and life as a bull rider, Alda’s love was bedeviled by his military duty as he prepared to ship off for World War II.
The generational twist adds another layer of emotion, as two love stories follow parallel trajectories, despite decades of separation. Time may change, but love never does.
“The Longest Ride” also stars Oona Chaplin, Melissa Benoist and Lolita Davidovich. Produced by Sparks, Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey and Theresa Park, Fox 2000 Pictures will release the film to theaters on April 3, 2015.
