I have a SERIOUS problem with NICHOLAS SPARKS Movies

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome back to another video where I end up doing something I regret.

[00:00:03]This is Nicholas Sparks, an American author known for his vast selection of romance novels. And it just so happens that he has managed to get 11 of his novels turned into film adaptations, including but not limited to The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Safe Haven, Dear John, that shitty one with Miley Cyrus and creepy blonde Hemsworth, etc. And as a man who has dipped his toe in the unfortunate waters of romantic movies and rom-coms, I find it unforgivable that I've seen movies like The Kissing Booth before watching ones like So, in today's video, I have the displeasure of watching all 11 of his movies, both to get the street cred of having seen them all, but also to discover which of these 11 are the best in my personal opinion. And to do so, we're going to be using my classic five-star system, where each star is worth five points, meaning any one film can earn up to five stars or 25 points total. However, each star will be represented by a certain aspect of the film to make it a bit more interesting.

[00:00:53]The first star will be of the female protagonist, how good of a character she is. The second star is the exact same, but for the male protagonist. The third star deals with the chemistry between the two love interests. Basically, is there any? Do I believe these two people are actually in love, or does it feel like they're just actors here for a paycheck? The fourth star is by far the most interesting one for me, and it's the third act twist. In every Nicholas Sparks movie, something near the end of the movie happens that completely alters the course of the story. It could be a simple third act breakup like I've ranked in previous videos of mine. It could be someone dies, or someone gets sick, etc. I'll be ranking this star based on what it is and how I feel about it. The final star will be nothing more than pure entertainment. How much did I enjoy the film overall? Let me tell you, there are movies in here where the two leads are amazing people, but their movie is boring as [ __ ] The same can be said for the other way around. So, I'll be judging how much fun I actually had watching said movie. Now, along with this system, there will be a few bonus stars given at the end of the video, as well as a possible negative bonus star.

[00:01:53]All of these will be worth three points, which could drastically change the overall rankings of the movies. With that all said though, there is one thing I would like from you guys. I have not read any of the books, but for those of you who have, please comment below your ranking of these movies based on how well they adapted from the original novels. I want to know which one gets the highest praise as far as being faithful to the original source material. So let me know. Anyway, with all that in place, it's time to go over these movies. First up is Message in a Bottle, in which the message should have been don't watch this movie. It starts off with a journalist named Teresa running on the beach in a coastal town.

[00:02:26]>> Run, Forrest, run!

[00:02:27]>> in which she finds a message in a bottle. Wow, go figure. And that message is a love letter to a lady named Catherine. Back home, she tells her newspaper firm about it and Hagrid decides to print it for everyone to see.

[00:02:37]Because of this, they get flooded with more letters and fan mail and information regarding who wrote the letter to the point where Teresa goes out of her way to track down the hidden figure who wrote the original message.

[00:02:47]In another coastal town, she meets a man named Garrett. But instead of saying something logical like, "Hi, we found your message. I'm a journalist." she instead immediately starts her weird version of flirting and says, "Hey, nice boat." In which he offers to go sailing with her the next day. Keep in mind, these are like the first two sentences they have ever said to each other. If only dating was this easy. But they end up going on the date. Of course, not without some classic Nicholas Sparks drama. And over the next few days, Princess Bride and McFarland, USA fall in love. However, like I mentioned, Teresa never mentioned why she was there. I wonder if that will ever become a problem. Hey look, it's a problem.

[00:03:23]While staying at Teresa's place, Garrett finds his bottle and message in her literal dresser. And then Teresa finally spills the beans only to sound like a crazy person, saying she fell in love with him through the letters he wrote to who she now knows to be his dead wife and that she was scared telling him would push him away. Girl, let me tell you, you could have gotten the guy had you been upfront with him from the start. Also, get better at hiding things you wouldn't want someone to find. Why did you put it in the dresser right next to where he's going to sleep? But naturally, Garrett gets upset, but he does discover a third letter that Katherine, his late wife, actually wrote to him, which didn't make him feel better about Teresa, but it did encourage him to finish building this boat, I guess, kind of like Gibbs from NCIS. Then he sort of forgives Teresa and invites her to the showcase of his boat, in which Teresa kind of gets butt hurt that Garrett is still in love with his dead wife, which is really bizarre.

[00:04:13]Like they get into a full-on fight because of it, which like, "Girl, I understand wanting a man all to yourself, but it's literally his dead wife who he took care of while she was sick. Like come on." But they extend their breakup yet again until Garrett decides to finally let Katherine go, which was all well and good.

[00:04:30]Then he dies.

[00:04:32]I'm serious. He writes a message to Teresa in a bottle, go sailing, sees a family in need during a storm, and dies trying to save them. Teresa hears about this, gets the message he wrote her in the bottle saying he loves her or whatever the [ __ ] and the movie just ends. What the hell, man? What kind of ending was that? Spoiler, this will not be the last time this happens. So, starting off with number one, Teresa.

[00:04:54]I hated her. Not only was she a liar for most of the movie, she made weird decisions with Garrett, like, "Hey, let's not do this." And then immediately does exactly what she said she didn't want to do. She also goes full-down bad crazy with Garrett and then gets all upset at him for still having love for his dead wife, which was the real nail in the coffin for me. Sorry, Teresa, you get a one. For Garrett, there was nothing super special about him. He wasn't a bad guy per se, but they didn't do much to make me like him, either. He did reconcile with Katherine's family and he did try to save the people in the boat and did successfully save two of them. So, I'll give him a three. For the chemistry, there was a lot of chemistry.

[00:05:29]You could definitely see the feelings between these characters, and overall I bought it. So, I'll give them a four.

[00:05:35]Now, for the third act twist, Garrett dying. Like, okay, was that really necessary? No. Did it have a real impact on the story? No. It gets a two. And then finally, entertainment. It wasn't bad. Despite me [ __ ] on it, I had an overall decent time watching this movie.

[00:05:50]It was interesting and unique, decent acting and everything. I'll give it a three, which leaves the movie with a total of 13 out of 25 points, or 2.6 stars. [music] Not a great start, but I can tell you it isn't the worst on this list. Next, we have A Walk to Remember, where I remember wanting to walk off a cliff after watching this. This is my reaction to the end of the movie. As you can see, I wish I was dead. Feel free to check out my full reaction on my Patreon. But this movie starts off with literal attempted murder, or somewhat.

[00:06:16]We start with our main character, Landon, who tries to prank this kid in their class, leading him to getting extremely injured. Along with some underage drinking, Landon is hit with a bunch of consequences, including becoming a janitor, teaching kids with special needs, and becoming a full Troy Bolton character by being part of the school play to avoid going to jail. Then walks in a girl named Jamie, who Landon has known for years, but never really thought much more of. But due to the fact that they're always in the same places, and with him needing help with lines for the school play, they grow a bit closer. [music] You could say their feelings become a little bit tangled.

[00:06:50]Get it? Cuz she was the voice of Rapunzel.

[00:06:57]The problem is that Landon, and more specifically his friend group, are [ __ ] And it's the classic he's nice around Jamie, but a dick when around his friends. So, Jamie doesn't really like being around him. That all changes, however, at the play, when Jamie shows her true beauty and singing abilities, which leads to Landon kissing her, which was not part of the script. Also, it was very much a classic, "Wow, take off the glasses and put on the dress, and suddenly she's the most gorgeous human around." Like, dude, she looked like that before this. Anyway, that doesn't mend their relationship until Landon first gets her a sweater, which is important cuz they know she only has one, and when he stands up for her after her friends Photoshop her. By the way, the Photoshop bit was cringe as [ __ ] First of all, to the stereotypical black friend, it wasn't that funny. And secondly, I know this movie's from the Stone Ages, but my god, that Photoshop was terrible. Anyway, that does rebuild the relationship to where Landon tries to ask Jamie out. But, uh-oh, she says she can't date. Her reverend father won't allow it. Classic issue, am I right?

[00:07:54]Wrong. It's not because of her father's Christian beliefs, nor is it her not being old enough or anything like that.

[00:08:00]No. No, no, no. She has cancer.

[00:08:03]Apparently, for [clears throat] the last few years, Jamie had been diagnosed with leukemia, and the treatment stopped working, so she was going to die, which led her to not wanting to get involved with anybody, knowing that it wouldn't last. [ __ ] this movie, by the way. I really didn't see that coming. But, the movie continues on where Landon still tries to make the best of it, helping her cross wishes off her list and giving her the best life he can while he can.

[00:08:25]Even rebuilding his relationship with his father to do so. The movie ends with Landon marrying Jamie, as it was her biggest wish. Then, not too long after, she dies. Landon goes off to college and then gets into medical school. Then, he reconnects with Jamie's father one last time, talking about how Landon was a miracle for Jamie and that even though love can't be seen, it can be felt.

[00:08:44]Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. [ __ ] this movie, man. So, starting with Jamie's character, she was awesome. Key [ __ ] word being was. Not only was she sweet and nice and pretty and smart, but she had some serious sass and wise comebacks to Landon's friends when they tried to pick on her. She was passionate and driven, and she lived life to the fullest. She easily gets a five. As for Landon, once him and Jamie got together, he was the best boyfriend you could ask for, honestly. But, with how he acted in the first half of the film, it was kind of a night and day difference, and I didn't really feel like there was much of a transition there. But, I'll still give him a four overall. Their chemistry was also really good. I'm a sucker for haters to lovers storylines, and this one really hit the mark here, so I'll give them a solid four. Now, the twist, of course, is Jamie having leukemia, and despite my hatred of that happening, it was really well done. They had hinted at something for a lot of the film, and they handled the whole situation of that pretty well, in my opinion. So, while it does suck that it happened, I'll give that a five. And then lastly, entertainment. I really enjoyed this movie. It was fun. The relationship was nice to follow. There were good character moments and such. Only thing I personally didn't enjoy was Jamie dying, obviously. So, for that it gets a four, which leaves this movie with a strong 22 out of 25 points or 4.4 stars. [music] This one is honestly going to be pretty tough to beat. Now we're on to probably the fan-favorite movie, The Notebook, or what I like to call it, Death Note. So, the entirety of this movie is from the perspective of an older gentleman reading from a notebook. Ha, get it? But it depicts a young Noah from the 1940s who stumbles upon a girl named Allie.

[00:10:16]And he tries his own version of wooing her. Basically, not taking no for an answer, promising to end his life if she doesn't go out with him, and ending with some light stalking. All of which leads to them actually going on a date. Like, this works. Glad to know one of the most popular romance movies of all time is promoting this type of behavior. But they get together and have the small love montage of them going on dates, making out, fighting quite a bit, then making out some more. Let me tell you, they make out a ton in this movie.

[00:10:43]However, a problem arises that Noah is a broke boy, while Allie comes from a rich white family who I can't prove owned slaves at one point, but I can't disprove it either. But after Allie's mom calls Noah literal trash, Noah decides for some reason to agree with her and says that him and Allie shouldn't be together. He just doesn't see how it could work. He's just Ken.

[00:11:01]So, mean girl basically breaks up with him because of that and they leave for the evening. But the next morning they realize they're both dumb as [ __ ] and rush to see each other. Unfortunately though, they both miss each other. So, to make up for that, Noah writes love letters to Allie for a full year as he heads off to World War II. There he also loses his best friend Finn, which is really sad. Finn was like the wingman who helped get Noah and Allie together.

[00:11:22]He then comes home and with the help of his father buys his dream house and rebuilds it in the image that Allie wanted when they were together. Also, his father dies. Noah's really living a great life, huh? Meanwhile, Allie becomes a nurse in the war and meets a soldier named Lon, who after an insane glow up asks her out and they start dating, only to get engaged a few years later. Also, he's rich, which makes her family very happy. Then when trying on her wedding dress, she sees Noah in the paper and faints. Listen, to all the men out there, if your woman faints seeing an old flame, even in a picture, run.

[00:11:54]But because of this, Allie decides to make a red flag her whole personality and goes to see Noah. A reminder that she is engaged and also can't drive.

[00:12:02]What did Nicholas Sparks mean by this?

[00:12:04]But Noah and Allie rekindle a bit and decide to go on the most romantic date I've ever seen in my life. Guys, at what point is this considered cheating? Going to see Noah? Going on this canoe ride with him? Or what's going to happen in a minute here? Let me know down below. But during their date, it starts pouring and we get to the scene, the ultimate scene from this movie, where she finally calls him out claiming he never wrote her, in which she learns that he in fact did write her.

[00:12:28]>> Why didn't you write me?

[00:12:29]>> I wrote you every day for a year.

[00:12:32]>> And her mother kept it from her all these years. Then because of that, they canoodle, like really canoodle. It actually goes on for a very long time.

[00:12:40]Also, before people call me out for hating so much on Allie for cheating on her soon-to-be husband, let me say that Noah also had a boo thing who he kind of cheated on, too. So, they're both at fault here. Plus, Noah knows that Allie's engaged, so, you know. Then Allie's mom shows up and talks about how she also once loved a broke boy, but didn't marry him and then cries for some reason. I don't really know the message that she was trying to tell Allie there.

[00:13:01]But then Allie and Noah get into another big fight as Allie wants to go back to her husband, but Noah wants her to do what she wants to do, not what her family wants, gaslighting her into staying with him. Okay, that that's not really what happens. They both have good points in their argument, though. But then she tells Lon about how she cheated. Lon becomes a bigger man than I ever could be and decides he still wants to be with her. She says, "Okay, cool.

[00:13:21]Thanks." And gets back together with Noah. All All the end, I guess, except not really. We learn that the old man reading the book was Noah, and he was reading to Allie, who has dementia. It's a sweet moment where once finishing the story, she remembers everything, only to not remember and give a really sad scene showing the effects of said dementia.

[00:13:40]Then Noah goes to her again, they talk a minute, and then they die in each other's arms. It's really beautiful and a perfect ending for them, and so not necessary. Sparks, why are you killing off everyone? I'm not enjoying the precedent that you're setting. Anyway, starting off with Allie.

[00:13:55]Oh boy. Now, I will admit I don't like it all that she cheated. It's something I always hate seeing in movies or shows, even if I want her to get with Noah, I still don't like that. That said, she was a fun character. I like the emotion and life she brought to the movie, so I'll still give her a three. The same thing can be said with Noah. I liked his character a lot. Albeit a tad boring at times, didn't love his pursuit at the beginning of the movie, but I do think he was a slightly better person than Allie. Maybe that's controversial, I don't know. I'll give him a four. For their chemistry, it was through the roof. I don't know a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff of these movies.

[00:14:27]I'm trying to judge them at face value, but I think it was this one where I heard once that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams hated each other, but these two characters were in love. Let me tell you, they easily get a five. For the third act twist, there wasn't really a twist other than finding out who the old people were, which was fairly predictable. I'll say the final breakup seemed a little unnecessary, but it wasn't that bad either. I'll give it a three. And then lastly, entertainment, I was pretty damn entertained. A good story, a lot of moving parts. The scenes were fun, they were dramatic, fun settings and such, too. I'll give it a four, which leaves this movie with a very respectable 19 out of 25 points, or 3.8 stars. Some of you may have wished I ranked it higher, but I still enjoyed it, and I'm happy to say I finally seen The Notebook. Next up, we have Five Nights in Rodanthe. This movie deals with a woman named Adrienne who just got, or is currently getting, a divorce from her husband Jack who had an affair.

[00:15:19]Jack says he still loves her, though, and wants to try again, while Adrienne brings in the law and order and says she needs some space to think about it. So, where does she go to? A coastal town, where she takes care of her best friend's inn while her best friend canoodles with hot shirtless man. Also, dude, look at where this inn is. If you don't have any guesses as to what's going to happen in this movie, you're delusional. But while taking care of the inn, there's only one guest currently staying there, a doctor with terrible bedside manner named Paul. We learn through his weird mannerisms that he is there in Rodanthe because of the family of a woman who he couldn't save during one of his surgeries. So, while Adrienne and Paul start to develop feelings over the three days he's there, there's also conflict as he's terrible at showing any empathy towards Stick and the dead woman's family. [music] Then, surprise surprise, a hurricane comes and starts destroying the inn. But Paul and Adrienne work together to save it, leading them to finally getting together. Not long after this, Paul makes proper amends with that one family, which also prompts him to go to Ecuador and make amends with his own son, James Franco. So, Paul and Adrienne go their separate ways, but continue to write each other sending love letters and such. I feel like I'm starting to have déjà vu. But on the day when Adrienne and Paul are finally able to reunite, Paul doesn't show up. Only to find out days later that Paul died in Ecuador trying to save medical supplies for the hospital down there. Yet another instance of a man dying from water trying to help people. And this leads to Adrienne going into a deep depression, which does eventually lead to her making amends with her daughter, who was heavily against her mom's original divorce. So, that's nice, I guess. But how do they end the movie, you ask?

[00:16:51]Horses.

[00:16:52]They show a bunch of horses. That's how it ends. So, starting with Adrienne, I thought she was fine. She had some good character moments, some good drives and passion. The way she stood her ground as a mother was solid, but overall, she was just a little uninteresting to me. I didn't connect with her that much, but I'll still give her a three. The same can be said for Paul. Yes, he had a decent character arc, but he made some really weird decisions in the movie, just simply with how he presented himself in situations. So, he gets a three as well. Their chemistry overall was fine. I didn't feel like they were madly in love, but I do think there was enough there for me to like it. So, I'll give it a three as well. The twist again was Paul dying in some random ass way, which I didn't love. I understand how love and grief and loss can all go hand in hand, but him dying seems so out of the blue. So, that gets a two. And then as far as entertainment goes, there was canoodling, there was drama, there was a hurricane, which was cool. It was fairly enjoyable. I'd give it a three, which leaves this movie with a whopping 14 out of 25 points or 2.8 [music] stars. Yeah, let's just move on to the next one. It is unfortunately time to talk about The Last Song, which prompted losing my last will to live. This is the Miley Cyrus one.

[00:17:58]Yay! So, this movie deals with a girl named Ronnie, a tough girl who wears eyeliner and is all rebellious, unless it deals with baby turtles, I guess. She ends up spending the summer with her dad and her little brother in a coastal town. Are you guys starting to see the similarities in each movie yet? But she immediately befriends fellow teenage rebel named Blaze, while also running into blonde Hemsworth Will, who spills a smoothie on her shirt and laughs it off.

[00:18:22]Nice guy. He does offer to pay for the shirt, but my fat ass would care more about the smoothie. That [ __ ] must have cost like $6.99. Anyway, there's this whole thing with Blaze and her boyfriend Marcus and some jealousy. I'm going to skip it cuz I don't really care about it. But the next day, Ronnie finds these sea turtles and makes it her entire personality that she must protect them.

[00:18:41]Unluckily for her, the man working at the aquarium to help her just happens to be good Will. And despite some initial back and forth, they fall in love. Only for her to learn that Will has been around a bit. He's a bit of a hoe. But Will, of course, hits her with the you're not like other girls, and then they officially get together. Then we learn that Will is, first of all, rich as [ __ ] but also lost his brother recently. Then they confess their love for each other be- because of that, even though it's only been like four days tops, I think. Whatever. Later at a volleyball game, Ronnie overhears that there was a church that was burned down and the town blames her father for it.

[00:19:16]We learn not long after that Will and his friend were the ones behind it or at least had knowledge of it, but he doesn't tell anyone until it's too late.

[00:19:23]And what do I mean by too late? Oh, yeah, Ronnie's dad falls over. Why? Cuz he has cancer. Did you forget this is a Nicholas Sparks movie? Well, here's your reminder. Cancer, cancer this, death that, but while Ronnie's dad is sick, Will and his friend confess the truth about the church which her dad forgives them, but Ronnie ends up breaking up with Will for not telling her about it sooner and putting her dad through that turmoil. Then her dad dies.

[00:19:47]Great movie and she ends up finishing and singing the last song. Huh? Huh?

[00:19:52]That he was writing before he passed.

[00:19:53]Then Will shows up and is like, "Hey, nice song. Want to get back together?"

[00:19:57]And she's like, "Yeah, okay." And then it ends. Yay, happy ending. Yeah, this movie sucked. I'm sorry. The only good part about this movie was the little brother. He ruled in this. But starting off with Ronnie, she was a whiny, rebellious crybaby the entire movie. She had no character growth and she was just annoying. Sorry, Miley. Ronnie gets a one. Will was not any better. He was always full of [ __ ] a bit of a hoe, he was a smartass, and yeah, he kept the truth about the fire which was obviously bad. Give him a one as well. Now, as far as their chemistry goes, woof. I know these two were married in real life, but was that before or after this movie? Cuz it felt like it was during their divorce. I haven't seen chemistry this bland since Katniss and Gale. Oh, maybe it's a Hemsworth thing.

[00:20:43]Give it a one. As for the twist, the church fire mixed with the dad getting cancer, who even cares anymore? It was out of nowhere and also dumb. I'm in a bad mood, too. An entertainment one. Can Can we just move on? This movie gets a six out of 25 points or 1.2 stars. This is definitely the worst one in my opinion. Feel free to try and change my mind. Hey, it's time for dear John. Yay.

[00:21:03]The movie that made me want to write a strongly worded letter to Nicholas Sparks. So, in this movie we have an army man named John, go figure, who while at the beach, yes, another beach, meets a girl named Savannah by outmogging this dude and grabbing her purse. In exchange for that, she offers him to come back to her house. A bit forward, huh? But while there, he also meets one of Savannah's friends, Tim, and his son named Alan. But him and Savannah get together and go on a two-week summer fling before he heads back to the army and she goes back to school. Halfway through though, they get into a fight where he accidentally elbows Tim. Honestly, not going to lie, Tim shouldn't have snuck up behind him.

[00:21:38]Like dude, he's an army man, what do you expect? But the fight was due to Savannah calling John's dad autistic.

[00:21:44]That's why they argue. It's a lot funnier to say here than it is in the movie. But they do apologize to each other and they decide to try long distance by sending each other love letters. I I just feel like I've seen this movie before. Maybe it's just me.

[00:21:56]So, they go their separate ways living their own lives sending love letters as often as they can. Then, we get 9/11.

[00:22:03]Yep. And that leads to John extending his tour for another 2 years, which him and Savannah struggle with, but they do decide to keep trying their relationship. Or so we think, cuz then a year or two passes and out of nowhere Savannah goes, "Oh, hey, you know, I'm not really feeling this anymore. We need a break up. Also, I'm already engaged to someone else. Yeah, I've been cheating, basically." Literally so out of the blue and it just feels like two bullets to the chest, which is ironic because he then takes two bullets to the chest.

[00:22:33]He's really having a good time. But once he recovers, he decides to re-enlist again and after 4 years he finally comes home. After, you guessed it, his dad dies because why not? So, John then goes to see Savannah after all this time, which feels like a terrible decision, only to see that who she ended up with was Tim, which came as a shock because John thought it was this loser she ended up with. But guess what? Tim is sick and dying. Holy [ __ ] the twists keep coming. Tim is dying from lymphoma and doesn't have the money to get any treatment. Then Savannah and John fight again where Savannah tries to make herself look reasonable and logical for somewhat cheating on John and getting with Tim who she doesn't even romantically love as much as John and then says she doesn't know what she's doing. It's kind of a cluster [ __ ] to be honest, but John leaves and they don't speak again. But John being good soldier boy decides to sell his dad's coin collection in order to help pay for Tim's treatment [music] even though Tim does die a few months later.

[00:23:31]So.

[00:23:33]Yeah. Then the movie ends where John randomly stumbles into Savannah, something that only happens in movies and they hug showcasing a possible rekindling of romance and then the movie ends. So starting with Savannah, what the [ __ ] girl? You started out so strong but then you call it off with John only after you're already engaged and then you try to justify it sort of.

[00:23:54]It was really off-putting. I'm unfortunately giving her a two. John on the other hand was a pretty solid dude.

[00:24:00]He did have some anger issues and going to Savannah after everything was a bit questionable, but I'll still give him a four. Their chemistry was honestly pretty solid. I felt it. It wasn't perfect and it didn't help that most of their interactions were only through letters, but I'll still give them a four. And then as far as the twist, we got her breaking up with John, we got his dad dying, we got Tim being the other man and then we got Tim being sick and I hated all of them. Was it as bad as others? No, but it still sucked. It gets a two. And then finally entertainment, it wasn't the worst experience ever. I enjoyed the movie overall. The first half was definitely better than the second half, but I'll still give it a three leaving this movie with a total of 15 out of 25 points or three stars. It [music] was fine overall. Moving on. Next up we have The Lucky One and I was lucky to have already seen this movie before this video so I didn't have to watch it again. This movie deals with our Zac Efron character Logan, a soldier from Iraq who gets in many battles, explosions and other situations where he's saved purely due to finding a picture of a woman in the rubble. When coming home, he struggles with PTSD and even accidentally almost hurts his nephew. So, instead of staying home, he decides to go on a trip with his dog named Zeus to find the woman in the photograph who saved his life. So, he finds a somewhat coastal town. Yes, you heard me right, where he finds a girl named Beth who lives on a farm and owns a dog kennel. And surprise, surprise, when he shows up, he can't work up the courage to explain to her why he's there. Instead, she assumes he's looking for a job and despite Beth not wanting to hire him, her grandmother does. So, he starts working at the dog kennel keeping a very calm and serious demeanor where Beth doesn't really know how to feel about him. The drama ensues when Beth's [ __ ] ex-husband keeps showing up causing problems with her and their son Ben and being incredibly suspicious of Logan. He even threatens her with abusing his power as a cop to get custody of their son. What is he the Fork Police Department? That reference will certainly date this video. But despite all the trouble, Logan and Beth grow closer as well as his relationship with her son Ben. But uh-oh, Keith, her ex-husband, still doesn't like Logan and discovers that Logan came here looking for Beth where he then discovers the photo of Beth that Logan has been hiding from her. Once again, if you're going to lie, at least learn to hide things better. But Beth finds out and a huge fight breaks out. Logan says he's in the wrong, but it doesn't matter to her. For context, it was her brother who had the picture of her in Iraq and died over there. Now, side note, this might be a bit controversial, but it is a tiny bit weird in my opinion to have that kind of picture of your sister. I feel most people would assume your relationship to her is a bit different if they saw you with that picture over there in Iraq.

[00:26:34]Maybe that's just me. I digress. But they break up sort of. Then Keith goes full [ __ ] drunk dad threatening Logan to leave. Logan, of course, goes full badass mode though and on returning home, he realizes who Beth's brother actually was and it was someone he knew in Iraq who ended up saving one of his own men's life. So, as he goes to tell Beth this, Keith shows up again trying to reconcile with Beth for some reason and fails spectacularly. So, he instead chases after Ben threatening to take him away. And guess what happens next? A storm. A storm in which Ben hides in his treehouse across a river where Keith and Logan both try to save Ben despite their differences and Keith dies in the process. [music] At least the person who died in this one was an [ __ ] The movie ends with Logan telling Beth about her brother and after a bit of blue balls, they finally get together. One of the rare happy endings in one of these movies. So, starting off with Beth, she was good. A likable character overall. I think some would say she was a bit too mean to Logan at first, but if I was her, I'd be skeptical of this random guy, too. She was a decent mom, decent person. I do just wish she was a little more strict towards Keith. I understand why since he's a cop and he had the power and authority, so it was a little scary. But still, either way, I'd give her a solid four. Logan was also a pretty good character. He was very reserved, but not in a way that made him seem angry or boring. He actually had a decent bit of character and he was even a badass at times. The only thing is I felt like his PTSD went away too quickly. Like he almost hurt his nephew, but never once struggled after that. At least not really. So, for that, I'll give him a four, as well. Their chemistry overall was pretty damn good.

[00:28:06]It definitely felt like a slow burn, but a more natural one at least in comparison to some of these other films.

[00:28:12]So, I'll give them a four. The twist in this is a mix between her finding out about the photo and Keith dying at the end. I feel like the reveal about the photo was pretty good. Just like Message in a Bottle, though, my god, so much could have been solved had he just told her in the first place. But for some reason, I do seem to understand it more in this one. And then with Keith dying, honestly, I'm kind of happy about it.

[00:28:32]So, I'll give it a three. And then lastly, entertainment. This was a really fun one. Probably my favorite first time viewing of any of these movies. Albeit, I'm a bit biased cuz I like Zac Efron, but it was well-paced overall. I liked the cinematography and the drama, the storytelling. The grandma was great.

[00:28:46]Good all around. It gets a five. Leaving this one with a solid 20 out of 25 points >> [music] >> or four stars. Definitely one of my favorites from this list. Moving on to Safe Haven, where my safe haven is far away from this movie. Now, this was the only other movie I had seen before making this video, and I only saw it because of my girlfriend at the time who wanted me to watch it. She said it was cute and romantic and that it would make me cry, so that's exactly what I expected when I went into watching it.

[00:29:10]Instead, I'm immediately hit with blood, murder, running away from your crimes, hidden identity, corrupt cops. What the [ __ ] is this? So, yeah, the movie starts with a girl named Katie, if that is her real name, running away from her house terrified and covered in blood only to dye her hair and escape from the police by hopping on a bus. She ends up in a You [ __ ] guessed it, coastal town, where she gets a job as a waitress and moves into a small house in the middle of the woods. While there, she befriends two people, her neighbor Joe and Transformers guy named Alex, who owns the only grocery store in existence, apparently. And through their exchanges, as well as her befriending Alex's daughter, they start to develop a bit of a relationship. It's not without its hiccups though, like her getting incredibly pissed at him getting her a bike since she's always walking everywhere, and her helping Alex save his son, whose dumb ass falls off the pier, etc. Meanwhile, we see this detective trying to look for her, suspiciously drinking a ton of water.

[00:30:04]Watching him not hit his head with the bottle once he finished those drinks really upset my neuro divergent mind.

[00:30:09]Does anyone else do that once they once they finish their drink?

[00:30:13]Or was it just me?

[00:30:14]All right. Anyway, he creates a wanted poster for a woman named Erin, who looks exactly like Katie. Interesting. But, she is wanted for first-degree murder.

[00:30:23]Meanwhile, Katie's living life on the beach with her new family. Funny enough though, Alex's son hates her since she's not his mom who passed away. Yes, we have another death to talk about. But, the next time we see them, he is completely cool with her for some reason.

[00:30:36]>> [laughter] >> I like her.

[00:30:40]>> You like her?

[00:30:41]>> Yeah.

[00:30:41]>> Anyway, Alex ends up finding the wanted poster and discovers who Katie truly is.

[00:30:46]So, he gets all upset and angry since she's been around him and his family, which is certainly fair, even though he never let her explain the whole story.

[00:30:53]But, they break up and she decides to leave town. Then, like the next day, Alex does a 180 and practically begs her to stay with him. My man's a simp. But, then she's finally able to tell the full story that she had an abusive husband and stabbed him to get away, fleeing for her life. And who is her husband, you may ask? Oh, only the detective who's currently searching for her. Name's Kevin. Also, this water was in fact not water. Who would have thunk? But, Kevin gets suspended for his illegal search for his wife, but he continues to look for her anyway. Only to finally discover her whereabouts through a phone call she made to her neighbor who helped her at the start of the movie. Then, comes the 4th of July where Alex and his son go on a boat to see the fireworks, while Katie and Alex's daughter, Lexi, stay at the store. Katie then has a weird dream where Joe, her neighbor, tells her that Kevin's there. Funny enough, when she wakes up, Kevin's there with a gun, asking her to come back with him and threatening to burn down the store with gasoline if she doesn't. So, Katie complies, lying to him that they'll get back together, only for her to then fight back. During the fight, the store accidentally gets set on fire. Alex sees it and manages to save Lexi, while Katie shoots and kills her husband, Kevin. At the end of the movie, Alex and Katie become a family with his kids, but only after reading some letters written by Alex's late wife that survived the fire, in which Katie sees a picture and discovers that neighbor Joe was in fact the ghost of Alex's wife, Carly, who had been looking over her this entire movie.

[00:32:17]I guess you could say that's how she met their mother.

[00:32:22]Please subscribe.

[00:32:23]Please, I beg you. And then the movie ends. So, starting off with Erin, or Katie, very nice person, extremely nice, very friendly. She went through some trauma, so she was a little reserved, but overall, she was kind of boring as [ __ ] I think she was supposed to be closed off, which worked well in this, but she was still a bit two-dimensional for me. So, I'll give her a three. For Alex, he was pretty good, also very nice and friendly, but seemed to have a bit more of a personality showing off his interests and hobbies and such. So, I'll give him a four. Their chemistry in this was pretty good. I think it was strongest around Alex's kids, where I really felt like they actually loved and cared for each other. So, I'll give them a solid four. The twist was pretty good in this one as well. Finding out that Katie, or Aaron, didn't actually kill anyone and the detective was her husband, mixed with Joe being a ghost, it was a decent twist. I'll give it a four. And then lastly, entertainment, it was not the most thrilling movie I'd ever seen. There were a few moments that dragged at times, [music] but when it was exciting, it was really exciting.

[00:33:20]I'll give it a four, which leaves this movie with a total of 19 out of 25 points, or 3.8 stars. This is a pretty good one. Now, we have The Best of Me, which ironically brought out the worst in me for one very specific reason, which I will get to in a minute. But, this one is a bit more complicated than the rest. There's a lot of pieces here.

[00:33:37]Basically, the movie starts out with our main character, Dawson, who works on an oil rig that explodes, [music] in which he miraculously survives. But, it causes him to return home and recover. While recovering, he gets a call that his father figure, named Tuck, had unfortunately passed away. [music] When he meets with Tuck's lawyer, however, he sees that his long lost love, Amanda, is there as well, and that Tuck tried to be a last-minute wingman and get them back together, or at least rekindle, something like that. Then, we go back in time to their high school years, where they first meet and fall in love.

[00:34:06]However, it's not so simple because Dawson comes from an extremely abusive and dangerous family, including his father, who looks like a loser. Yeah, I couldn't really come up with a better insult than that, but it is true. He does look like a loser. And one day, it gets so bad that Dawson runs away and meets Tuck, staying with him to avoid his terrible family, becoming so close that he almost becomes like a son to Tuck. But, it's still dangerous. There's even an instance where he calls off a date with Amanda due to his beat up face from his father. So, while Dawson and Amanda are all good, his family keeps looking for him and even threaten Tuck a few times in order to get Dawson back.

[00:34:40]Then it goes too far where on prom night, Dawson's brother and his dad beat up Tuck, leading Dawson and his cousin to confront his dad once and for all.

[00:34:48]Unfortunately, that confrontation does not go well as it leads to Dawson accidentally shooting and killing his cousin, which naturally winds him up in prison. It's there where he decides to cut off ties with Amanda out of shame or guilt, kind of something like that. And even though Amanda went to see him every week for a year, he never saw her again until Tuck passed away 20 years later.

[00:35:10]And while reconnecting and also fighting about what happened in the past, eventually they go crazy and canoodle.

[00:35:16]Here's the problem though, it's The Notebook all over again, but worse.

[00:35:20]Amanda is married with a kid while this happens. It's just blatant cheating. Is her husband kind of a drunken loser?

[00:35:28]Yeah. Does not change the facts though.

[00:35:30]And then despite this, they both agree that this won't work, so she goes back to her husband. Now this here is where my fundamental problem with this movie occurs. After they go their separate ways, a few things happen. Amanda's kid gets into a car accident, Dawson goes back to confront his father and save the kid of his dead cousin from joining the family business, Amanda decides to leave her husband, and then her and Dawson get together and live happily ever after. Or so I [ __ ] thought. You see, when watching this movie, I couldn't remember if Amanda was married or not when she [music] rekindled with Dawson. So, I looked it up to confirm that. Upon looking it up, I saw that there was an alternate ending that was completely different to the ending I saw. Except no, no, no, no. What I saw was actually the alternate ending. The actual ending is much, much worse. So, apparently the actual ending of the movie is that Amanda's son is in a car crash and needs a heart transplant. And it just so happens that Dawson actually gets the [ __ ] kicked out of him by his family who eventually shoot him dead. But guess what they didn't shoot? His heart. And lo and behold, the heart that saves Amanda's kids life happens to be Dawson's heart that gets donated. She finds this out and she's happy and sad and cries but lives happily ever after alone. What the [ __ ] First of all, that being the original ending is trash.

[00:36:51]Secondly, why did Amazon Prime show me the alternate ending? I paid $4 to rent that [ __ ] And finally, maybe it's just me, but why is it so damn hard to find the actual ending anywhere on the internet? I learned what the original ending is from reading about it. I still haven't seen it. I seriously couldn't find a high quality version of the original ending, which is insane. So because of that whole [ __ ] I'm giving my one negative bonus star to this movie for both having an alternate ending and having the original ending being complete ass. It has left a bad taste in my mouth, so I'm going to speed run this [ __ ] So starting off with Amanda, she was fine, but she cheated. Three.

[00:37:27]Dawson, fine character, boring as [ __ ] Three. Chemistry, pretty good, always works when both people are hot. Four.

[00:37:33]Third act twist, he killed his cousin, kind of random, kind of crazy. Three.

[00:37:36]Entertainment, three. But it gets minus three for all the [ __ ] I already mentioned, so this movie gets a 13 out of 25 points or 2.6 stars. Get this [ __ ] off of my screen. Yay, it's The Longest Ride, which just so happens to be one of the longest two hours of my life. Okay, not really. This one's actually not terrible. So this movie deals with a professional bull rider named Luke, who meets a girl named Sophia after her super girlfriend tells her to stop living under the dome and come out and party once in a while. I'm starting to lose it here. I'm making even worse niche references. But they go to a bull riding event where >> [music] >> Luke rides a bull and drops his hat, giving it to Sophia. Also, these girls need something better to do in their lives, my god. But eventually, Luke asks Sophia out, but she's reluctant to say yes since she's leaving for an art school thingy pretty soon. She does finally say yes though, and cowboy man becomes the most cowboy man ever. Like, dude, do you really need the hat? Take it off. Also, he drives a truck and they have barbecue for dinner. Like, the jokes write themselves. But, on the way back from their date, Luke becomes big boy detective and finds that an old man drove his car off the side of the road in the rain. So, he and Sophia save the man and Sophia discovers that he has a box of old love letters that he wrote to his late wife, Ruth. God, we have more letters and late wives. When will this end? So, over time, Luke and Sophia start to date while Sophia begins meeting with the old man to read some of his letters, giving us flashbacks to his life. Also, kind of funny how she said she was always busy at the start of the film and now she's here in the hospital every day. Though, I can't really complain cuz I like this story. But, in these flashbacks, we see all of the ups and downs of their relationship. Their falling in love, the struggle with World War II, the breakup after losing out on adopting a child in need, etc. But, the main takeaway was Ruth's love for art, similar to how Sophia loves art.

[00:39:14]Meanwhile, in current day, Luke and Sophia get in a fight after an art show as Luke can't see himself living this type of life with her. Then, he goes bull riding again, only to get terribly injured. Also, complete side note, I like how this is called The Longest Ride when the bull riding only lasts 8 seconds. Anyway, we find out that Luke was injured a year before and that if he goes bull riding and gets injured a third time, he'll most likely die. But, he doesn't care and wants to keep riding, leading to Sophia breaking up with him as she can't see him go through with that. Then, while apart, Ira, Ira, Ira, the old man passes away and both Luke and Sophia are invited to an auction where they'll be selling off all of his artwork. Before that though, Luke comes to realization that he doesn't want to risk his life bull riding anymore. He just wants to be with Sophia. A nice sentiment if it wasn't for the fact that he came to this realization after risking his life bull riding again and winning the state championship. Kind of defeats the whole character arc, bud.

[00:40:08]You still did the thing you weren't supposed to do. But, at the auction, they start with a painting which is a portrait of Ruth and after no one seemed to want it, Luke puts in a bid and wins the piece. [music] However, due to dumb luck on Luke's part, in accordance with Ira's will, he states that that painting is his most prized possession [music] and whoever gets that piece gets his entire collection. So, Luke immediately becomes a multi-millionaire. He also gets back with Sophia. Kind of interesting that Sophia, who was with Ira the entire movie, didn't even try to bid on that piece. I feel like they were setting her up for that and then she did literally nothing at the auction. But, the movie ends with Luke and Sophia together with an art gallery dedicated to all of Ira and Ruth's paintings. How they afforded this, I don't know.

[00:40:48]Something tells me they sold some of his paintings in order to fund a building that showcases his paintings. Seems a bit morally questionable, but it all ends happily ever after for once. So, starting with Sophia, she was one of the best female protagonists out of all the Sparks movies. She was sweet and kind, but also driven and passionate and stuck to her morals while also being a good friend to a dying man. She gets a five.

[00:41:10]Also, I realize my descriptions of some of these characters are all the same, saying driven and passionate over and over again. I don't care. I'm tired.

[00:41:16]Now, for Luke, he was a forgettable idiot who had no personality and didn't listen to his doctors or Sophia about his health. Doing the whole redeeming thing after already doing the thing he wasn't supposed to do. He gets a two.

[00:41:26]Their overall chemistry was good, but like I said before, I didn't really care for Luke and that led to me not feeling the love between them. So, I'll give them a three. The twist third act was the art piece and them not being compatible as a cowboy and artist, which is understandable and I did like the art twist. I think that was fun. I know this star is always a bit questionable, but this is my list. I can do as I please.

[00:41:46]So, it gets a four. And then lastly, I was fairly entertained by this.

[00:41:50]Honestly, I was more invested in the flashback story than the main story, but it's all part of the same movie, so I'll give it a four. Which leaves this movie with a decently respectable 18 out of 25 points or 3.6 [music] stars. And now we have our 11th and final movie, The Choice. The choice being should you watch this movie? The answer is no. So, this movie deals with an An neighbor with a bad haircut named Travis, who annoys his new neighbor Gabby so much that she confronts him and yells at him for being too loud. She also calls out his dog for getting her dog Molly pregnant, which first of all isn't true.

[00:42:22]It's just what she thought. But also, what's with dogs named Molly having puppies? If you don't know what I'm talking about, go watch my Airbud video.

[00:42:29]But Gabby later learns that Travis is actually the local vet. Oh, yeah, did I mention this is a small coastal town where this movie takes place.

[00:42:39]Yay. But Gabby enlists the help of Travis to care for her dog and eventually her babies. And through that, they begin to hate each other a bit less. Maybe even, I don't know, start to fall in love or something. But there's just one thing. There's just one little thing I forgot to mention.

[00:42:54]Um yeah, Gabby's in a relationship already. Yeah, with Superman no less.

[00:42:58]Nicholas.

[00:43:00]Nicholas, listen to me.

[00:43:01]Write new stories. No coastal town, no rain scenes, no deceased wives or husbands at the end of the movie, no cheating, and no cancer. Got it? So anyway, tensions obviously arise as her actual boyfriend, Ryan, comes back from his business trip. And then her and Travis argue about it. Like they didn't both already know she was in a relationship. He knew. She obviously knew. And now you're both surprised this is creating a problem. Also, Travis was having an on-again, off-again relationship with pretty blue eyes lady, who I can never pronounce her last name, so I'm not going to try. Side note, should have gone for her, buddy. Gabby is very, very pretty, don't get me wrong. But I mean, come on. Anyway, they break up and Gabby gets back with Ryan, or returns to Ryan like she never left.

[00:43:45]And he proposes. And she says yes, like immediately. Only to then call it off and run away to her family home. When Travis learns about this, he chases after her, and then he proposes. And after a little bit of convincing, she says yes. Glad to know you needed to convince her like that. And you'd think this is the end of the movie. Happily ever after. No, we're not even close.

[00:44:05]It's Nicholas Sparks. We jump forward years later to where Gabby and Travis are happily married and with kids. And one night when Travis is running late for a dinner date, wham! Gabby gets in a car accident and winds up in a coma for months. Also, it was raining that night.

[00:44:20]Can you believe it? A rainy scene in one of these movies? Shocker. But this eventually leads to Travis having to make a choice. Huh? Huh? Get it? On whether to keep Gabby on or off life support as it doesn't seem like she's going to wake up. Then a hurricane hits the town because of course it [ __ ] does. And after that, Travis's dog Moby finds these wind chimes that Gabby owned. W Moby. And when hanging them back up, Travis notices them start to chime. And [music] he rushes to the hospital only to find Gabby has finally woken up. She gets to go home and they live their life happily ever after.

[00:44:53]Noting that Gabby could hear Travis breathing for her with his words towards her the entire time she was in a coma. I don't know, it's kind of weird, but that's how the movie ends. So starting with Gabby, she was an okay character.

[00:45:04]Granted that she was in a coma for a lot of the movie, but she was a bit quick to judge and a little mean. And also the whole cheating thing wasn't great. So she gets a three. Travis sucked. Sorry, as someone who has annoying noisy neighbors, he pushed that button every time he was that toward Gabby. I'm giving him a two. The chemistry was fine though. The haters to lovers was a tad quick and it didn't always seem like Gabby actually liked Travis, but I'll still give them a three. Then the twist being the coma, it was once again unnecessary and out of the blue, but at least it changed up the formula a bit and she ended up living, so I'll give it a three. And then finally, despite me kind of complaining about this movie, it was pretty entertaining. I mean, if anything, the relationship was always exciting. Not a dull moment. I'll give it a four, which leaves the final movie with a total of 15 out of 25 points or three [music] stars. Thank god this is over. So now that we've ranked all of these movies, it's time to show our final rankings and give out the bonuses. Except, I changed my mind. Originally, I was going to give a bonus star to the movie that didn't take place in a coastal town or didn't have a pouring down rain scene. But then I realized they all [ __ ] do. All 11 of these movies have at least one of those things. Not to mention all of the cheating, the cancer, the death, etc. So, you know what? None of these movies deserve bonus stars. I have spoken. Best of Me, sorry, you're still keeping your -3 points. So, with that, that means in third place we have a tie between The Notebook and Safe Haven. In second place, we have The Lucky One. A very good movie overall, I actually recommend it. Feel like I said that already. I'm losing my mind. And that means the very best Nicholas Sparks movie, in my opinion, which came as a bit of a shock to me, honestly, is A Walk to Remember.

[00:46:44]I don't know what it was about this movie, but I really did enjoy it so much more over some of the other ones. So, this is my full ranking of all the Nicholas Sparks movies. I have no idea how different my ranking is compared to like the general public, but that is what the YouTube comment section is for.

[00:46:59]So, please let me know what your rankings of these movies are or just what you think of these movies in general. I'd love to know. But with that, I am thankful that I have watched all of these movies. I do feel like if I just watched one of them, then I probably would have felt like I've watched all of them, but unfortunately I still spent over 24 hours of my life watching these 11 films.

[00:47:18]24 hours I will never get back. Thanks for watching. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. Have a kick-ass rest of your day and I'll see you all in the next one.

[00:47:27]>> [music] [music]