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D+By now, almost all Nicholas Sparks‘s works seem the same, with incredibly attractive couples, enticing Southern locales, and problems that conveniently resolve themselves in the third act. So it takes something truly extraordinary to make a Sparks film stand out from the routine crowd. The Choice manages to do just that, but not in a good way. Instead, an incredibly wrong-headed plot twist makes it the only Sparks film that’s genuinely disturbing to sit through.
For the first three-quarters of its running time, however, The Choice is standard issue Sparks. Happy-go-lucky Travis Palmer (Benjamin Walker) initially butts heads with his new neighbor, doctor-to-be Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer). Eventually, they fall in love, but Gabby’s feelings are tested when her fiancé, wealthy but dull doctor Ryan McCarthy (Tom Welling) returns from a lengthy business trip.
As Sparks couples go, Travis and Gabby make a good pair. Walker and Palmer have a laid back chemistry with each other that’s quite evident, and director Ross Katz does not rush matters but, instead, takes every opportunity to show off the Carolina low country scenery and his highly photogenic lead actors. A night-time boat ride Travis and Gabby take to a secluded romantic beach is corny but particularly effective. Then, The Choice completely falls apart. I won’t reveal the plot twist (although the movie’s first scene pretty much foreshadows it), but it’s a cheap, low attempt to add “serious” emotion to the movie. Although the film sets the stage for these developments by introducing solid supporting and supportive characters, including Travis’ father (Tom Wilkinson) and sister (Maggie Grace), Katz squanders any chance of genuine emotional depth by rushing through several years in the lead couple’s lives in a single hackneyed montage that leaves no doubt about what’s going to happen. The result is a predicament that leaves the audience nearly devoid of any emotional involvement with the characters and, at the same time, feeling obviously and insultingly manipulated. Further, it’s a predicament that the movie resolves in the worst way possible as far as maintaining any credibility is concerned. It takes only 30 minutes for The Choice to turn pleasantly bland Sparks pablum into nauseating bile. Even in a Valentine’s season devoid of romantic film alternatives, audiences should choose to avoid The Choice.
Continue reading on The Choice: Mini-review
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