The Choice (2016)—Let Your Heart Decide, Nicholas Sparks

                            “How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?”
                                                        -Nicholas Sparks, The Choice

Sypnosis

The Choice (2016) was a film based from one of New York's Times Bestselling author Nicholas Sparks, which is a romance and drama genre. It features on how an individual creates his/her choice in the name of love of how far we can go, sacrifice, for the happiness of the person whom we truly love. Meanwhile, Travis Parker has everything a man wishes to have a good job, a good face, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life—boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured friends—he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about his and the presence of her longtime boyfriend does not help. Despite himself, Travis cannot stop trying to bring himself into favor with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. In the fathom of the eventful years of young love, marriage, and family, The Choice (2016), ultimately confronts us with the most heart-wrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

About the Author




Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1988 and is one of the more critically-acclaimed authors of the past 5 years. He is the author of 5 best-selling books, including "The Notebook" and "The Rescue". Four of his books, Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004) and Nights in Rodanthe (2008), have been adapted into blockbuster movies. Sparks lives in North Carolina with his wife, 3 sons, and twin daughters.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0817023/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Inspiration for The Choice

The Notebook. Millions of people loved the novel. Millions of people loved the film. With Cliffs Notes coming out of the novel in 2009, a case can even be made that it’s become something of a modern classic. Nowadays, I’m fairly certain that when people look back on my career, The Notebook will always be first in the list of work for which I am most known. This doesn’t bother me at all, by the way. I’m proud of that novel for many different reasons, but that doesn’t mean that I fully accept the fact that I’ll never write a novel that becomes even more well-known.

Still, there was something magical about the story, and after finishing Dear John, I set out with the hopes of capturing at least a bit of that magic once more, if only to show that I hadn’t forgotten why people began to read my novels in the first place.

The Choice was the product of those efforts.

Again, as with all my novels, one of the questions I must first answer when attempting to conceive of a story is the “obstacle” that keeps the characters apart. The obstacle creates the tension and drama inherent in the story; in many ways, it’s the glue that holds the entire story together. In The Notebook, the “obstacle” that kept them apart was two-fold; in the early story, it was Allie’s engagement to Lon; in the final section, Alzheimer’s kept Allie from remembering Noah.

With The Choice, I tried to parallel – not copy – those obstacles. In The Choice, I decided to give Gabby a serious boyfriend, one whom she thought she would marry; in the final section, Gabby was in a coma, and Travis wasn’t sure whether she would ever awaken.

Parallels. Not copying. Close enough to feel superficially familiar, but different enough to feel completely unique. And though I simply laid out my thoughts behind the novel in just a few preceding sentences, it took months to actually come up with the central thrust of the story. It’s always like that though: the idea, once expressed, seems obvious. But conceiving the idea in the first place is often a long journey of frustration.

-Nicholas Sparks, The Choice

Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content and some thematic issues)

Genre: Drama, Romance

Directed By: Ross Katz
Written By: Bryan Sipe
In Theaters: February 5, 2016, Wide
On Disc/Streaming: May 3, 2016
Box Office: $15, 285, 347
Runtime: 100 minutes
Studio: Lionsgate Films
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3797868/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm