The Nicholas Sparks Countdown: We Rank All 10 Movie Romances
‘The Notebook,’ ‘The Longest Ride,’ and ‘The Lucky One’ (Everett Collection)
Full disclosure: I’m a sap. As much as I enjoy the Boyhoods and Whiplashes of the movie world, I’m pretty content gazing at a screen filled with gorgeous actors, stunning vistas, and sweeping, if predictable, love stories. In other words, I enjoy a little Nicholas Sparks in my life. The prolific romance author has published 17 novels in his career, a stunning 10 of which have been turned into movies so far (with an 11th coming next year). Of course, we all know the hallmark clichés of these films, from handwritten letters and kisses in the rain to devastating, tearjerking deaths.
While the Sparksian film adaptations are undeniably formulaic, some definitely work better than others. It’s with that in mind — and the release of The Longest Ride in theaters this Friday — that I present our definitive ranking of all 10 Sparks films so far. (Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth in ‘The Last Song’ (Touchstone)
10. The Last Song (2010)
Romantic Leads: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth
Director: Julie Anne Robinson
The Plot: High school graduate Ronnie (Cyrus) has quite the chip on her shoulder as she’s forced to spend the summer with her estranged father (Greg Kinnear) in a Southern beach town. When she meets the handsome Will (Hemsworth), she begins to open up, and she and her father begin to reconnect through their shared love of music.
This entry marked the only time Sparks was commissioned to write a screenplay, and there’s a reason that hasn’t happened since. The story attempts to keep all the necessary Sparks signatures, but the result is a total mess. The conclusion feels completely tacked on, as if the filmmakers got through the requisite funeral scene and realized they hadn’t yet put Ronnie and Will back together. The film’s best storyline is the one that happened off-camera between Cyrus and Hemsworth. We assure you that the ebb and flow of that failed relationship was far more exciting than this dreck.
Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough in ‘Safe Haven’ (Relativity)
9. Safe Haven (2013)
Romantic Leads: Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel
Director: Lasse Hallström
The Plot: Katie (Hough) flees Boston for mysterious reasons and arrives in a sleepy Southern beach town full of secrets. She soon bonds with a widower, Alex (Duhamel), and must own up to her past before they can have a future together.
Mysteries are not Sparks’s strong suit. When Katie arrives in Southport with her walls up after fleeing an abusive husband, she claims to be determined to keep her distance from people, but poof!…she instantly makes nice with a single dad Alex, his two kids, and her “neighbor” Jo (Cobie Smulders). Except that Jo keeps disappearing into shrubs and never seems to be at small- town functions, and we’re supposed to be surprised when we find out she’s really the ghost of Alex’s wife playing Cupid. Yeah, I know that’s a major spoiler, but c’mon!
Watch the ‘Message in a Bottle’ trailer:
8. Message in a Bottle (1999)
Romantic Leads: Robin Wright and Kevin Costner
Director: Luis Mandoki
The Plot: Theresa (Wright) is a lonely divorcée who has pretty much given up on romance until she finds a tragic love letter in a bottle and goes on a quest to find the man behind it, Garret (Costner).
I’ll be blunt here: The very first of this long line of Sparks adaptations was just boring. The leads were fine and Paul Newman as Garret’s recovering alcoholic father was delightful and more developed than usual for these movies, but it just dragged on…for 132 minutes. This entry also gets the distinguished honor of being the first to conclude with a handwritten note from one lover to the other that’s magically left on a table just as its author goes off to meet a tragic death. Apparently, people thought that trope worked. It happens in a number of these flicks.
Taylor Schilling and Zac Efron in ‘The Lucky One’ (Warner Bros.)
7. The Lucky One (2012)
Romantic Leads: Taylor Schilling and Zac Efron
Director: Scott Hicks
The Plot: A Marine (Efron) in Iraq manages to avoid an explosion when he discovers a dropped photo of a beautiful blonde. He keeps the image close as he serves three tours and, when he returns stateside, travels to Louisiana to find the woman he believes is his living guardian angel.
I hate to say it because she’s so great on Orange Is the New Black, but Schilling was just painfully miscast here, and it showed in her and Efron’s complete lack of chemistry. Still, at least you get a bunch of really pretty images (many of which focus on Efron without a shirt).
Watch the ‘Best of Me’ trailer:
6. The Best of Me (2014)
Romantic Leads: Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden
Director: Michael Hoffman
The Plot: Tragedy and prison keeps high school sweethearts Amanda (Monaghan) and Dawson (Marsden) apart for more than 20 years, but eventually they reunite when a mutual friend dies and tasks them with handling his estate.
This one probably shouldn’t be ranked this high. But if I pretend the absurd heart-swapping ending didn’t happen and focus instead on how both Monaghan and Marsden have been criminally under-utilized throughout their careers, it jumps a little more in my esteem. It also marks a subtle shift toward Sparks’s female leads becoming a bit more empowered.
Diane Lane and Richard Gere in ‘Nights in Rodanthe’ (Warner Bros.)
5. Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
Romantic Leads: Diane Lane and Richard Gere
Director: George C. Wolfe
The Plot: An unhappily married woman (Lane) helps a good friend by running her beachside North Carolina inn for a few days while a big storm and a handsome single doctor (Gere) roll into town.
If you don’t finish watching this movie desperate to sip wine on the porch of a B&B in the Outer Banks, you might not have a soul. I confess, it was just that urge that made me enjoy this movie despite its abundant similarities to Message in a Bottle (at least it’s got a more bearable running time). The ending may be manipulative (especially with its puppy-eyed cameo from James Franco), but I wept on an airplane as I read the original novel and did the same as the credits rolled on the movie. (Sidenote: If you like these two actors and you’ve never seen Unfaithful, just go watch that one instead.)
Watch the trailer for ‘The Longest Ride:’
4. The Longest Ride (2015)
Romantic Leads: Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Logline: A woman about to graduate from college (Robertson) and a professional bull rider (Eastwood) meet cute, but they’re headed in separate directions until they save and befriend a much older man (Alan Alda).
This is a case of a Sparks movie doing what a Sparks movie does best: Putting together two beautiful, charismatic actors on the rise and elevating both of their star powers. His famous father aside, Eastwood is mostly unknown right now. But given his looks — and the squeals that erupted in the theater during the screening I attended — that’s going to be ancient history very soon. I’ve been a vocal fan of Robertson’s work since her days on The CW’s underrated Life Unexpected, and this marks her last stop before becoming a full-fledged ingénue in Tomorrowland this summer. Their heat worked for me. This is exactly what you hope to get when you fork over money for one of these movies.
Mandy Moore and Shane West in ‘A Walk to Remember’ (Warner Bros.)
3. A Walk to Remember (2002)
Romantic Leads: Mandy Moore and Shane West
Director: Adam Shankman
Logline: Landon (West) winds up in big trouble and is forced to spend time with the reverend’s quiet daughter, Jamie (Moore), who continues to dazzle him even after he finds out she’s dying.
This saccharine romance remains one of the best Sparks adaptations in part because it was one of the first. Neither of the main characters is remotely believable — Jamie is such a goody-goody, she seems not of this earth and Landon’s a bad boy who isn’t remotely bad — but it magically doesn’t matter. I understand why a guy like Landon would be mesmerized by a dying girl like Jamie. And when the smitten teens get married, and I watch the titular walk to remember, I weep because they twisted my arm, and I’m totally OK with it.
Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum in ‘Dear John’ (Screen Gems)
2. Dear John (2010)
Romantic Leads: Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum
Director: Lasse Hallström
Logline: A soldier on leave (Tatum) falls for a college student (Seyfried) before he has to head back to war. They vow to keep writing letters to each other, but when one tour becomes more, distance gets in the way.
I have to tip my hat to Dear John for having a mostly happy ending that feels practically subtle compared to the rest of the Sparks oeuvre. The movie certainly has its flaws — Tatum’s acting has come a long way in the last five years — but nearly everything in John is hypnotically pretty and the subtle tweaks to the usual Sparks tropes are a refreshing change of pace.
Watch the trailer for ‘The Notebook:’
1. The Notebook (2004)
Romantic Leads: Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Logline: Romeo and Juliet come in the form of the poor Noah (Gosling) and wealthy Allie (McAdams), but the star-crossed lovers get far more years before their Shakespearean ending.
There’s a reason this film is still an obsession 11 years after its release and it starts and ends with the magical chemistry between McAdams and Gosling (which apparently wasn’t so magical offscreen until long after cameras stopped rolling). Unforgettable moments like the “it’s still not over!” kiss in the rain simply can’t be replicated with other pairings (and The Best of Me really tried). It’s dreamy and epic and still really works.