Summary
- Nicholas Sparks movies are known for bringing audiences to tears and often tackle intense storylines like terminal illness and classism.
- High-profile stars have used Sparks adaptations as career jumping-off points, but interest in these films has waned over the years.
-
Despite mixed reviews, some Sparks movies like
The Notebook
stand out as quintessential romance epics with memorable chemistry and quotes.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Since the late 1990s, Nicholas Sparks movies have become a recognizable subgenre within romance films. Eleven of Sparks’s novels have been made into feature films, and these formulaic movies are known for reducing audiences to tears. Outside the fact each adaptation is based on a novel written by the author, several hallmarks separate a cheesy but classic Nicholas Sparks movie from just any romance film. North Carolina often serves as the backdrop of these movies, as Sparks resides in the southern state, and they often tackle intense storylines including terminal illness, military deployment, and classism.
High-profile stars and up-and-coming actors have appeared in movies based on Sparks’s novels. In the 2000s, these film adaptations served as jumping-off points for actors’ careers in Hollywood. At the time, starring in an adaptation of a Sparks novel signaled that an actor could carry a film as a romantic lead. Over nearly two decades, interest in these types of movies has waned at the box office, but their impact on the romantic drama genre remains. While critics were never fully on board, some of his movies are noticeably better quality than others.
Related
15 Best Romance Movies Of The 2000s
The 2000s generated many romance movies, and the best of the decade stand out for their unconventional storytelling and relatable relationships.
11 The Choice (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes: 11%/ IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
The most recent adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, The Choice is also the most disappointing. Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer star as Travis Shaw and Gabby Holland, two neighbors who have a brief affair and fall for one another after initially not getting along. After they marry and have children together, Gabby is in a severe car accident that leaves her in a coma. Travis is then faced with the tough choice of removing her from life support or waiting for her to wake up.
The Choice had the worst opening of any film based on a Sparks novel (via Box Office Mojo). While there has been a decline in the release of romantic films over the years, The Choice flew completely under the radar. The formula for Nicholas Sparks movies used to be a tried and true way to attract audiences, but The Choice proved it no longer works. Instead of relying on one strong story, it’s packed with too many tropes. It features a brief enemies-to-lovers plot, a love affair, and a catastrophic injury to keep viewers engaged.
Stream on Netflix
10 The Best Of Me (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes: 12%/IMDb: 6.7/10
Released less than two years before The Choice, The Best of Me shows the cracks beginning to show in the Sparks novel-to-adaptation formula. The movie follows a pair of exes in the present day and as high school sweethearts in 1992. James Marsden stars as Dawson Cole while Luke Bracey plays his younger counterpart, and Michelle Monaghan stars as Amanda Collier-Reynolds with Liana Liberato appearing as her teenage self. After the death of Dawson’s surrogate father (Gerald McRaney), Dawson and Amanda are reunited in their hometown. As they reconnect, the demise of their relationship is shown through flashbacks.
The Best of Me marks Marsden’s second appearance in a Nicholas Sparks movie, but the actor’s star power is not enough to redeem the film. Marsden and Monaghan have believable chemistry and do their best with the script, and the flashbacks give the movie some narrative weight, but The Best of Me is still weighed down by tropes and predictability. Instead of the movie’s tragic ending feeling necessary, it feels like it only exists to elicit tears from viewers as one of the most deliberately sob-inducing Nicholas Sparks movies.
Stream on Starz
9 Safe Haven (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes: 13%/IMDb: 6.6/10
Close
Safe Haven stars Julianne Hough as Katie, a woman who mysteriously arrives in Southport, North Carolina, and falls for a widowed single father named Alex (Josh Duhamel) who owns a local store. Katie’s real name is Erin, and she changed it after fleeing her abusive husband, Kevin (David Lyons). Even though Safe Haven satisfies fans of Nicholas Sparks movies, its ending features a plot twist that was universally panned by critics (via Rotten Tomatoes).
However, the changes made from the original novel to the film adaptation do not do the movie any favors. The novel describes Erin’s escape from her husband and transformation to becoming Katie as more layered and complex, and Alex recognizes early on that she could have experienced abuse in the past. In the film adaptation, Alex breaks up with Katie when he learns that she lied about her identity, and a tired miscommunication trope ensues. This choice does a disservice to the deep connection between Alex and Katie which is supposed to be a fundamental part of the movie.
Stream on Pluto TV
8 The Lucky One (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes: 20%/IMDb: 6.4/10
The Lucky One stars two popular actors, Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling. Efron plays a soldier named Logan, who while serving overseas finds a photograph of a woman named Beth (Schilling) and believes her to be his “guardian angel.” When he returns to the U.S., Logan decides to look for the woman and finds her living in Louisiana with a son. As Logan and Beth get to know one another, they fall in love.
When it comes to Nicholas Sparks movies, The Lucky One is not the worst but not the best. It proved to be a success at the box office, and Efron won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Movie Actor for his role as Logan. The story is filled with clichés, but it hits enough emotional beats to be entertaining. Unfortunately, The Lucky One is not memorable enough to be considered a stellar romantic drama, and the movie relies too much on Efron’s star power to make it a worthwhile watch.
Rent on Vudu
7 Nights In Rodanthe (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 30%/IMDb: 6.0/10
Nights in Rodanthe marks the third time Hollywood legends Diane Lane and Richard Gere starred together in a movie. Lane plays a woman named Adrienne who is temporarily running her friend’s bed-and-breakfast. Gere’s character, Paul, is the only guest at the establishment. The two bond over their shared trauma and fall in love during their short time together.
Nights in Rodanthe ranks higher than other Nicholas Sparks adaptations because it feels less formulaic. It still takes place in North Carolina and still features a tragic ending that feels avoidable, but Gere and Lane help Nights in Rodanthe feel like a movie instead of tropes put on screen. Given that Nights in Rodanthe was only the fourth Nicholas Sparks movie adaptation, the formula still feels fresh. If it were to be released today with the same plot, though, it would probably not hold up as well.
Stream on Max
6 Dear John (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes: 29%/IMDb: 6.3/10
When Dear John was released in 2010, the movie’s poster and the trailer (featuring “Set The Fire To The Third Bar” by Snow Patrol) were everywhere. With Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as its leads, anticipation for the film was high, and it came in first at the box office when it first premiered. Tatum plays a soldier named John Tyree while Seyfried plays a college student named Savannah Lynn Curtis. While John is deployed, they communicate through letters, and all of Savannah’s letters begin with “Dear John.”
Even with its box office success, Dear John failed to live up to its high expectations. Tatum and Seyfried were said to lack chemistry, and the movie only received mostly negative reviews from critics (via Rotten Tomatoes). Several plot points from the book by Nicholas Sparks were changed, primarily involving Savannah’s relationship with another man named Tim (Henry Thomas). These changes completely altered the movie’s tone, leading it to feel mismatched throughout.
Rent on Vudu
5 The Last Song (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes: 21%/IMDb: 6.0/10
The Last Song was the first Nicholas Sparks movie in which the author also worked on the screenplay. Miley Cyrus stars in the movie as “Ronnie” Miller, a teenager who has to spend the summer at the beach with her younger brother, Jonah (Bobby Coleman), and her estranged father (Greg Kinnear). Over the summer, she meets Will (Liam Hemsworth) and the two start a romance. Her relationship with Will leads to her reconnecting with her father.
Before starring in The Last Song, Cyrus was primarily known for her title role on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. The Last Song proved to be a breakout acting role for Cyrus, and her contribution to the movie’s soundtrack, “When I Look at You,” made it into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. While Cyrus and Hemsworth’s real-life relationship helped their chemistry in the movie, the highlight of the film is the trio of Cyrus, Coleman, and Kinnear. Together, the three actors make the familial tropes of The Last Song believable.
Stream on Disney Plus
4 Message In A Bottle (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 32%/IMDb: 6.2/10
Message in a Bottle was the first-ever movie adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Released in 1999, it stars Robin Wright as a woman named Theresa and Kevin Costner as a man named Garrett. While on vacation, Theresa, a journalist, finds a message in a glass bottle. Her co-workers manage to find out Garrett is the author, and Theresa travels to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to investigate. Garrett and Theresa hit it off, but Theresa worries about what will happen if Garrett finds out she originally visited for work purposes.
Given that Message in a Bottle is the first of a long list of Nicholas Sparks movies, it set the stage for what to expect from this specific type of romance film. It also started the trend of audiences enjoying the movies more than critics. Given that the initial success of Message in a Bottle undoubtedly led to more film adaptations being released, its impact cannot be understated.
Rent on Vudu
3 The Longest Ride (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes: 31%/IMDb: 7.0/10
Unlike other Nicholas Sparks movies, The Longest Ride features two main couples. It follows Ira (Jack Huston) and his love, Ruth (Oona Chaplin), after they meet in 1940, and a modern-day couple, Luke (Scott Eastwood) and Sophia (Britt Robertson). While leaving their first date, Luke and Sophia drive past an older Ira (Alan Alda) in a wrecked car, and they take him to the hospital. Through meeting Ira, Luke and Sophia find connections between their relationship issues and Ira and Ruth’s love story.
After a string of misfires in Nicholas Sparks adaptations, The Longest Ride is a breath of fresh air. Eastwood and Alda give memorable performances, and by having two different couples, there is more for viewers to enjoy. If one couple’s story does not resonate, the other relationship likely does. The movie’s final plot twist feels subdued by Sparks’s standards, which makes The Longest Ride more relatable than other adaptations.
Stream on Max
2 A Walk To Remember (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes: 29%/IMDb: 7.3/10
A Walk to Remember stars Mandy Moore and Shane West as Jamie Sullivan and Landon Carter. Jamie is a religious high schooler who is hiding a cancer diagnosis. Landon is a rebellious teenager who falls for Jamie, and the two are forever changed by their connection. The movie was released in 2002, but it takes place during the 1990s. This is a change from the book, which took place in the 1950s.
In addition to being a romantic drama, A Walk to Remember is a quotable coming-of-age movie. This allows it to incorporate a different formula, which sets it apart from other Nicholas Sparks movies. Changing the film’s setting was a positive choice, and West and Moore’s chemistry makes Jamie and Landon’s relationship believable. A Walk to Remember is one of the rare exceptions where the movie ended up being better than the book.
Stream on Peacock
1 The Notebook (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 54%/IMDb: 7.8/10
Close
Without a doubt, The Notebook is the best Nicholas Sparks movie. It stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling as Allie and Noah, a young couple who have a brief summer romance. They break up when Allie’s parents do not approve of Noah being lower class. Years later, when Allie is engaged to Lon Hammond Jr. (Marsden), she and Noah reunite, and she must choose what life she wants.
Out of all the couples in Nicholas Sparks movies, Noah and Allie have the best chemistry. The Notebook has so many romantic quotes that are still memorable years after the movie was released. While it may be cliché in certain parts, The Notebook delivers romance and melodrama, and the obstacles that Allie and Noah face in order to be together are rooted in realism. When the movie arrives at its third act twice, there is sincerity instead of shock value. Because of this, The Notebook is not only a quintessential Nicholas Sparks adaptation but also a quintessential romance epic.
Watch on Apple TV
Are There Any New Nicholas Sparks Movies Coming?
There are several new Nicholas Sparks movies in the pipeline, promising more of the heartfelt romance and emotional storytelling fans have come to love. In April 2021, it was announced that a movie adaptation of The Return is in development (via Deadline). Directed by Tom Dean, the movie will also see Nicholas Sparks serving as a producer alongside Elizabeth Cantillon and Theresa Park. The Return centers on a Navy doctor who, after being injured in Afghanistan, returns to his hometown to recover and uncovers secrets about a mysterious woman and her connection to his past.
In May 2021, it was further announced that three additional films based on Nicholas Sparks novels are in development, set for distribution by Universal Pictures (via Variety). This development comes as part of a first-look deal between Universal Pictures and Sparks, aimed at fostering a long-term working relationship. The first of these adaptations will be The Wish, followed by Dreamland, and an as-yet-unnamed third novel.
The Wish revolves around a woman reflecting on her life and the love she experienced, set against the backdrop of her career as a successful travel photographer. Meanwhile, Dreamland follows a man and a woman whose lives intersect in a small town, leading to unexpected discoveries about themselves and each other. These upcoming projects highlight the enduring appeal of Nicholas Sparks’ narratives and the continuous demand for his evocative, romantic storytelling on the big screen. Fans of his work have much to look forward to in the coming years as these adaptations bring new and beloved stories to life.
Sources: Deadline, Variety