It is a truth universally acknowledged that any Nicholas Sparks book adapted to a film will invariably be compared to The Notebook.
The 2004 film that launched the career of Rachel McAdams was somewhat of an anomaly in the Sparks stable.
It was incredibly well-made, well-acted and told a melodramatic love story with such sincerity that the tropes didn’t feel like tropes – or at least not until the third viewing.
The Sparks adaptations since have had varying levels of success, but none have come near the deserved fanfare of The Notebook.
The Choice, unfortunately, doesn’t tread a lot of new ground and is about as predictable as a love story gets.
It follows young medical student Gabby (played by Australia’s Teresa Palmer, Warm Bodies) and her cocky neighbour vet Travis (Benjamin Walker, In the Heart of the Sea).
When the pair meet, Gabby has a steady boyfriend in doctor Ryan (Smallville’s Tom Welling, reliably bland), and Travis is entertaining old flame Monica (Alexandra Daddario, San Andreas).
One of the ‘choices’ of the title is Gabby’s to make – does she act on the intense attraction to the self-confident, outgoing Southern charmer next door, or does she settle with the practically-part-of-the-family goody-two-shoes safe option?
And it’s hardly a choice at all, especially not for the audience who are given next to no screen time to decide if Gabby and Ryan are actually a good couple before he jets off across the country.
Ryan is such an under-developed character that a cardboard cut-out of him might have stood the same chance.
But it is Travis’s choice, teased at the beginning of the movie and revealed – to no one’s surprise – at the end, that has more depth.
His choice delivers the requisite tissue-grabbing moment of any Sparks tale.
When the time comes for him to actually make that choice, the audience cares so little about the outcome that there is no satisfaction in his eventual decision.
While The Choice will no doubt be unmissable viewing for the Sparks subscribers, the rest of the movie-viewing world must wait patiently for an offering that can match or better The Notebook.
The Choice is rated PG.
