Plot: What’s it about?
It’s a somewhat scary thought to know that The Choice is the 11th film based on a Nicolas Sparks novel. Clearly, the fans are out there, but this latest offering is particularly bad that it makes me wonder if the most dedicated fans cared for it at all. You all have a choice to avoid this movie and save yourself two hours or proceed anyway despite my fair warning. The choice is yours. See what I did there? All kidding aside, I do wonder if the Nicolas Sparks train will end any time soon. He’s doing to the romantic genre what Marvel Studios is doing to superhero films. While many of the superhero films are of much higher quality than this, the threat of burning out is inevitable. The only positive I can say for this film is that it at least avoids the expected tragic ending that plagues most of these types of films. I’ll reveal little other than that, but thankfully it went in a different direction than I was expecting.
The film begins where we see Travis (Benjamin Walker) standing in a hospital holding flowers. We sense that an accident or something bad has happened, and then we flash forward to sometime before. Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) moves in next door to Travis and he takes a liking to her almost instantly. Gabby is a medical student who’s in a relationship with another doctor. Travis is a vet and works with his father played by Tom Wilkinson. He’s also something of a ladies man who, as we learn, doesn’t let things get serious. Once a relationship gets to a certain point, he breaks away. Gabby and Travis eventually grow closer and before long, they marry and have children. One night Gabby is in a car accident and is then left in a coma. It’s at this point that the film brings us back to present day (the scene that opened the film). It’s also here that the film’s title comes into play. I’ll confess that I did predict it’d take a bit of a different route here. I think this is due to the usual things we get from Nicolas Sparks based films. As I mentioned earlier, thankfully we don’t get the expected ending, but that’s really the only praise I can offer this film. The two leads have zero chemistry, the story plods more often than not. Once the film brings us back to the present, it goes on for almost another half hour. We could have lost at least 15 minutes here without sacrificing anything crucial to the story. It’s certainly a pleasing film to the eyes, but there are only so many sunsets I need to see in one film. I lost count of the number of scenes showing characters on a boat and sitting on a peer. It just became overbearing after a while. Hopefully the next film we get from the Sparks catalog will offer a more rewarding experience.
Video: How’s it look?
Visually this looks about as we’d expect it to. It leaves a little bit to the imagination and that’s a bit strange considering that it’s brand new to Blu-ray. Lionsgate usually does a fine job with the 2.40:1 AVC HD transfer, although the colors don’t pop quite as much as I’d expected. The palette used is a bit on the desaturated side and this does give way to some rosy-ness in regards to the flesh tones. Contrast is strong and detail level is consistent with most any new movie. I doubt people will find much to complain about, the movie looks perfectly acceptable, just not as “acceptable” as I’d have thought.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack has a few moments here, but they’re few and far between. Granted there are a few moments of glory and, yeah, this is a romance movie and that’s not the way things work. Dialogue is very sharp and strong and though the LFE does stretch its legs a few times, most of the action is relegated to the front stage. Like the video, the audio isn’t anything earth shaking, but it won’t disappoint either.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Deleted Scenes – I remember when deleted scenes seemed to mean a little more, now it seems they’re included just to check another line item on the back of the box. At any rate, several are included and none of which seemed to add anything to the film.
- Cinematic Choices: Making The Choice – Again, your standard run-of-the-mill EPK with some interviews with the cast and crew as well as some behind the scenes footage. Next…
- Choosing Home: Nicholas Sparks and North Carolina – A very familiar locale for Sparks’ films and he waxes philosophic as to why he loves the Tarheel state.
- Nicholas Sparks with… – As author John Green does in the films of his books (and if you read the reviews of Paper Towns or The Fault in our Stars, you’ll know what high regard I hold this jerk), Sparks interviews the cast who essentially has no choice but to kiss his ass with their responses.
- Molly & Moby: Choice Dogs – This is a new one…the four-legged actors are profiled.
The Bottom Line
Uninteresting characters and a plodding storyline, The Choice is a dud that should be skipped. With little to maintain our interest, the film becomes a chore to sit through. I haven’t seen these leads in other works, but they bring nothing to the roles here. Skip it.
