Nothing is for certain as a film critic. Sometimes the movies you think are going to be classics, end up being duds.

Other times the Nicholas Sparks flick you swear was going to be terrible, ends up being the best movie of the weekend.

“The Longest Ride” (Rated PG-13; 139 minutes) follows the trends of other Sparks movies with an unoriginal love story and ridiculous plot progression, but does so in entertaining fashion.

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Sophia Danko, played by Britt Robertson, is close to college graduation and has the internship of a lifetime. Life as she knows closes in on everything she has wanted. That is, before she meets Luke Collins, played by Scott Eastwood. 

Collins makes his living as a bull rider, and is one of the best.  The two meet at one of his events, and fall in love instantly.

But Collins’ lifestyle puts a strain on their relationship. The dangers of the sport take a toll on his body and Danko does not want to see him destroy himself. The two soon learn that love is always sacrifice.

The movie does not claim greatness by any means. Every cliché or trope brought up in a Sparks movie review is true for “The Longest Ride.”

But this movie does what “Safe Haven,” “Best of Me” and “The Lucky One” did not do. The movie was slightly amusing.

Any entertainment from the movie comes from the leads, Robertson and Eastwood. Both provide performances way beyond what this movie deserves. The movie hinges on the two, which is actually normal for a romantic film, and they do not disappoint.

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Robertson is an up-and-coming starlet. While not in a lot of films, she performs fantastically. The film portrays her character as a smart, independent female lead, something few and far between in romantic flicks.

Eastwood, who is the son of Clint Eastwood, has a raw sexual charisma seen in few young actors.  While I am not personally a fan of the gentleman cowboy character, he plays it with such magnificence, making it hard to dislike him at all.

Both actors have a rare chemistry, making even the dullest moments of the movie engaging.

The biggest problems with the film, and any possible Sparks adaptation, lies with the plot and progression of the movie.

The story is told through two sets of lovers. Danko and Collins are one, and Ira Levinson, played by Alan Alda, and Ruth, played by Oona Chaplin, are another. While Danko and Collins are an interesting couple, Ira and Ruth seem forced together, have no chemistry and bring nothing to a tired old tale.

The other plot complication comes from a tired old contrivance, the romantic movie trope of two people from different worlds failling in love. Something “The Notebook” did 11 years ago.

It is made painfully clear throughout the whole movie both Danko and Collins apparently cannot be together. A bull rider for some reason cannot comprehend the art world, and an artist could not understand the rodeo.

Instead of bucking the trend and trying to have a relationship with dynamic and reality, the two just serve so many stereotypes of bad romantic films.

Stars: 2.5 out of 5