{"id":616,"date":"2016-06-07T08:55:03","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T08:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lifeatthemovies\/?p=616"},"modified":"2016-11-30T11:34:21","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T11:34:21","slug":"right-or-wrong-choices-and-grand-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lifeatthemovies\/2016\/06\/right-or-wrong-choices-and-grand-purpose.html","title":{"rendered":"Right or wrong choices and grand purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

DVD movie review<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two guys and two girls centers the latest Nicholas Sparks production, The Choice<\/em> (2016, USA):<\/p>\n

On a coastal town, on a beautiful sunny day, veterinarian Travis is chatting up some local girls, but is swiftly taken away by his girlfriend Monica.<\/p>\n

Travis has a silver tongue and, apparently, a way with woman, which may not be a very good combination, for the sake of the woman in his life.<\/p>\n

He likes his next door neighbor Gabby, a medical student, who at first cannot stand him. She tells him to quieten down his loud music after a barbecue one evening. Then, his womanizing ways come to play, but Gabby isn\u2019t ‘swept off her feet’.<\/p>\n

Gabby is different from the others, though. Over time, she\u00a0is bringing out Travis’ \u2018real self\u2019, though who could trust a man with his reputation?<\/p>\n

It takes some time, but leads to where you would expect this. A love story ensues.<\/p>\n

However, Gabby has a boyfriend, Ryan, who is a doctor.<\/p>\n

Two guys, two girls…what will happen to Ryan\u2019s relationship with Gabby when she\u2019s with Travis? What will happen to Travis and Monica’s relationship? Choices, choices.<\/p>\n

Movies have been there, done that, but\u00a0the Nicholas Sparks way brings something fresh to play, though a slick production. I immediately think of Nights in Rodanthe<\/em>, where the ending isn’t formulaic, and The Best of Me<\/em>‘s grand scheme of things theme.<\/p>\n

The final act is serious and thoughtful and shows how Travis reacts when bad things happen to his and Gabby’s lives.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some effort put into creating a positive worldview despite life\u2019s slings and arrows and the pain of loss feeling like hell.<\/p>\n

It involves God pulling strings behind life which is unlikely and even miraculous. It involves being under a caring hand, guiding events for good, despite some choices being the wrong ones.<\/p>\n

That sounds good to me.<\/p>\n

\n

Warnings<\/strong>\u2014sex scenes, coarse language<\/p>\n

Notes<\/strong>\u2014Ross Katz (Director), Bryan Sipe (writer, based on Nicholas Sparks novel), Featuring: Benjamin Walker (Travis), Teresa Palmer (Gabby), Maggie Grace (Steph), Tom Wilkinson (Shep), Alexandra Daddario (Monica), Tom Welling (Ryan)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DVD movie review Two guys and two girls centers the latest Nicholas Sparks production, The Choice (2016, USA): On a coastal town, on a beautiful sunny day, veterinarian Travis is chatting up some local girls, but is swiftly taken away by his girlfriend Monica. Travis has a silver tongue and, apparently, a way with woman,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":602,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,32,329,320],"tags":[33,8,9,41,16,7,135,39,37,12,36],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-movies","category-dramas","category-relationships","category-spiritual","tag-drama","tag-film","tag-film-reviews","tag-friendship","tag-life","tag-movies","tag-nicholas-sparks","tag-relationships","tag-romance","tag-second-chance","tag-valentines-day"],"yoast_head":"\nRight or wrong choices and grand purpose - Life at the Movies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A couples movie: The Choice : movies have been there, done that, but the Nicholas Sparks way brings something fresh to play, though a slick production.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Right or wrong choices and grand purpose - 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