We are all familiar with “The Notebook,” “Dear John,” “The Lucky One,” and “The Last Song”, but these are just a few of the heart-wrenching romances created by Nicholas Sparks.

    On Friday, Feb. 5, a new movie will be added to the must-see collection: “The Choice.”

    The plot was unique compared with other romances. The movie was almost split into two parts (much like “Titanic”). You had the fun, amazing romance portion, and then you hit the halfway point where everything goes south, but you don’t see it coming. You can’t help but bawl your eyes out when you get to the end.

    “The Choice” stars Teresa Palmer (Gabby, the lead female who finds herself stuck between two men), Benjamin Walker (Travis, the lead male who falls for his new neighbor, Gabby), and Tom Welling (Ryan, supporting male who is engaged to Gabby). Just from seeing the descriptions we can see a lot of drama will be endured during the film.

    We start by meeting Travis, who is clearly a ladies man because the opening scene is him surrounded by women. We first meet Gabby (who is a medical student that just moved to town) when she is about to make a noise complaint to her neighbor, Travis, clearly annoyed with how loud his music is.

    What makes her go over to his house is the fact that she notices her dog has a bloated stomach, and what do you know? Travis has a male dog. Travis is clearly into Gabby at first and we can begin to see the brewing romance, even though Gabby tries to claim she is not interested. 

    While their romance really takes off, Ryan, Gabby’s serious boyfriend, goes off on a business trip for several weeks. His arrival back home is a huge obstacle for the new couple. Gabby then has to make the toughest decision of her life: Ryan, her faithful boyfriend who is kind and respectful, or Travis, who goes above and beyond to make her feel special.

    That is not the only choice that the characters have to make, but you will just have to see the film for yourself to see what love really means in the moment of life and death.

    “The Choice” is a romance/drama/comedy. Although the main focus is on a romance, each individual has a funny personality that makes the film a little bit lighter.

   This film is rated PG-13 for sexual context and thematic issues. There was no swearing but it was not age-appropriate for very young viewers. To fully appreciate the film, the youngest audience should be a mature 13-year-old at least, and from then on, everyone will surely fall in love with it.

    It is not too sappy, but more symbolic than other romances made from Sparks’s novels. There are a lot of physical objects in the movie that have a strong representation of something or someone, which adds much more of a deeper meaning to the story.

    The casting was spot on. Palmer embraced the sassy and hard-to-get role of Gabby perfectly, while Walker made all the women fall in love with him as he took on the charismatic role of Travis.

      There was not a lot about the movie that was not likable, but what somewhat took away from the story was the hints towards other romances. Travis’s dad, who is a widower, found himself crushing on one of his clients and we see him ask her out on a date. Although it was not a huge part of the story, it was definitely not necessary and it took away from the main romance that was occurring on the screen.

   “The Choice” is definitely a solid five out of five. The captivating story was unlike any other romance and each and every person made their character so believable you felt like you were walking through the romance with them.

    You were able to empathize with the characters and feel pain when they did, which is not an easy thing for actors to do. The movie really takes a toll on your emotions, but it’s worth it.

–Feb. 5, 2016–