The Choice Movie Review

The Choice is a 2016 American romantic drama film directed by Ross Katz and written by Bryan Sipe, based on Nicholas Sparks' 2007 novel of the same name about two neighbors who fall in love at their first meeting. The film stars Benjamin Walker, Teresa Palmer, Maggie Grace, Alexandra Daddario, Tom Welling, and Tom Wilkinson.

Principal photography began on October 13, 2014, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Lionsgate released the film on February 5, 2016.

Travis Shaw (Benjamin Walker) is a vet, living in small coastal town Beaufort, falls in love on his first meeting with Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer), who just had moved in next door. Gabby is a med student who is in a relationship with a fellow doctor, Ryan McCarthy (Tom Welling). After she broke up with Ryan, Travis marries her. They get two children and are a very happy family. After a dinner to which he failed to show up due to an emergency, Gabby drives back home and is hit by another car. She falls into a coma from which she doesn't wake up. After three months, Travis is asked to give permission to turn off the supportive equipment, as the chances of her waking up again are decreased to 1%. Travis refuses to make this choice. One day he comes to the clinic and finds her awake again. He takes her home, and they continue to lead their happy life.

 

    Benjamin Walker as Travis Shaw

    Teresa Palmer as Gabby Holland

    Maggie Grace as Stephanie Parker

    Alexandra Daddario as Monica

    Tom Welling as Dr. Ryan McCarthy

    Tom Wilkinson as Dr. Shep

    Noree Victoria as Liz

    Brad James as Ben

    Anna Enger as Megan

    Wilbur Fitzgerald as Mr. Holland

    Callan White as Mrs. Holland

    Jesse C. Boyd as Matt

    Dianne Sellers as Jackie

    Brett Rice as Dr. McCarthy

On June 10, 2014, Lionsgate acquired the American and United Kingdom rights to make a film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' 2007 novel The Choice. Bryan Sipe wrote the script for the film, which Sparks, Theresa Park and Peter Safran produced. On September 2, Ross Katz was set to direct the film, which Sparks co-financed and -produced with his Nicholas Sparks Productions, along with Safran's The Safran Company.On September 30, Benjamin Walker was cast to play the lead role in the film, Travis Parker.On the same day, Teresa Palmer was cast as the female lead, Gabby Holland. On October 7, Tom Wilkinson was added to the cast to play Dr. Shep. On October 8, Alexandra Daddario, Tom Welling, and Maggie Grace joined the film. Welling plays Ryan, a doctor at his father's practice who is Gabby's boyfriend, and Grace plays Travis' sister, Stephanie.

 

Principal photography on the film began on October 13, 2014, in Wilmington, North Carolina,and lasted through November For the first three days, the crew and extras filmed at the Dockside Restaurant & Bar and Bridge Tender Marina along with actors, near Wrightsville Beach. On October 20, filming was taking place at Hanover Seaside Club in Wrightsville Beach.The production later moved to downtown Wilmington, where filming took place in a house.

As March 10, 2016, The Choice has grossed $18,521,968 in North America and $3,016,407 in other territories for a worldwide total of $21,538,375.

The film was released in North America on February 5, 2016, alongside Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Hail, Caesar!. The film was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,631 theaters in its opening weekend.It made $290,000 from Thursday night previews and $6.1 million in its opening weekend, finishing 5th at the box office.

 

The Choice has received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 10%, based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Like the 10 Nicholas Sparks movies before it, The Choice finds tragedy striking star-crossed lovers in the sun-dappled South – yet even for those who loved its predecessors, this gauzy melodrama may feel painfully formulaic."Metacritic reports a score of 26 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Frank Schenk of the Hollywood Reporter criticized the film as being "the cinematic equivalent of staring at a Hallmark Card for two hours."A. A. Down of the A.V. Club called it "a formulaic mush".Moira Macdonald of the Seattle Times wrote the film "moves inexorably to its inevitable tear-jerky end."Andrew Barker of Variety describes the film as "beginning as a merely mediocre retread of standard Sparksian tropes, veering off into self-parody around the hour-mark, and finally concluding with one of the most brazenly cynical climaxes recently committed to film." Devan Coggan of Entertainment Weekly concluded that the film was a "predictable, recycled mess."