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Tag: nicholas sparks

  • Teresa Palmer: Role in “The Choice” is Dream Come True

    Teresa Palmer stars alongside Benjamin Walker in the new Nicholas Sparks film The Choice. The two chatted about the film at AOL Build on Wednesday on February 3 in New York City, where Teresa Palmer admitted her role in this film is a real dream come true.

    “I am a huge Nicholas Sparks fan, and The Notebook was a huge deal for me growing up,” she said. “I just had a dream of one day playing my own version of Allie Hamilton. So when The Choice landed in my lap, I thought it was very serendipitous.”

    Nicholas Sparks joined Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer at this gathering, which must have been an even bigger dream come true for the actress.

    The on-screen couple looked as adorable in New York City as they do in The Choice. Benjamin Walker wore a pale blue button down shirt topped with a navy blue sports jacket. Teresa Palmer wore a pretty Camilla and Marc patterned top and skirt with Bionda Castana shoes.

    Prior to appearing in The Choice, Teresa Palmer played roles in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Kill Me Three Times, and the 2015 remake of Point Break. She is married to actor-director Mark Webber.

    Benjamin Walker played the title role in 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. He is married to actress Kaya Scodelario.

    Will you be checking out Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer in The Choice?

  • Michelle Monaghan’s Film, ‘The Best of Me,’ Slammed in ‘Good Morning America’ Review

    Michelle Monaghan’s new film, The Best of Me, has been slammed by Good Morning America‘s movie critic David Blaustein.

    Blaustein didn’t seem to have too much to say about Monaghan’s performance, but he had plenty to say about casting and the plot of the Nicholas Sparks’ tearjerker.

    “The Best of Me, the latest film to be based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, is so embarrassingly bad, it hurts to write about it,” wrote Blaustein. “If you consider the bad casting, ham-handed dialogue, obvious digital manipulation of the film, sloppy sound mixing and far-fetched plot points, then you just might be able to enjoy what I believe to be one of the worst movies of the year.”

    The movie tells the story of high school sweethearts Dawson (James Marsden) and Amanda (Monaghan), who are reunited after a 21-year separation when their mutual friend, Tuck (Gerald McRaney), dies.

    Dawson has become a man who mostly keeps to himself and works on an oil rig, while Amanda, for her part, is now married to a jerk and spends her days as a dutiful wife and stay-at-home mom to her teenage son.

    Blaustein’s biggest beef with the acting seems to be with Luke Bracey, who plays the young Dawson alongside Liana Liberato, who plays young Amanda, in the film’s depiction of flashbacks to the characters’ younger days.

    “And here’s where the movie implodes,” said Blaustein. “There’s nothing wrong with Bracey as an actor, but this has to be one of the worst pieces of casting I’ve ever seen. He’s supposed to be the high school version of Dawson, but have you ever met a high school student with crow’s feet?”

    “In real life, Bracey couldn’t pass for an undercover cop in high school, never mind the fact there’s virtually no resemblance between him and Marsden. Bracey’s casting is such a distraction, it’s a cinematic disaster. Liberato is much more convincing as a young Monaghan,” Blaustein continues.

    “As for the plot: Dawson’s crazy, drug-running father and brothers, his relationship with Tuck, and his star-crossed relationship with Amanda past and present — it hardly matters. Other than the actors’ efforts to try to overcome this flaw-laden film, The Best of Me’s only other redeeming quality is that it finally ends.”

    Blaustein gave the film one out of five stars.

    What did you all think of the movie? Did Blaustein call it?

  • Michelle Monaghan, James Marsden: ABC Gives ‘Best of Me’ Poor Review

    Michelle Monaghan might be the best part of The Best of Me–at least according to a review published by ABC News earlier this weekend. The latest of a few films based on books by Nicholas Sparks, the review calls the casting ‘bad,’ the dialogue ‘ham-handed,’ and the digital manipulation of the film ‘obvious.’

    Twenty-one years after going their separate ways, former high school sweethearts Dawson–played by James Marsden–and Amanda–played by Michelle Monaghan–are reunited after the death of an older mutual friend named Tuck. Dawson is a loner who works on an oil rig. He reads books about philosophy when time allows. Amanda lives an existence akin to that of one of the Stepford Wives characters, playing the part of the dutiful, beautiful, stay-at-home mom to a teen son. She, of course, lives in a loveless marriage.

    The ABC review seriously disses actor Luke Bracey, who plays Dawson in his teen years.

    “There’s nothing wrong with Bracey as an actor, but this has to be one of the worst pieces of casting I’ve ever seen. He’s supposed to be the high school version of Dawson, but have you ever met a high school student with crow’s feet?” they write.

    The review goes on to call Bracey a ‘distraction,’ because he in no way resembles the grown Dawson.

    “…it’s a cinematic disaster,” the review reads.

    Michelle Monaghan is pretty much the only actor in The Best of Me that isn’t shredded to pieces in this review.

    The Guardian isn’t quite as harsh in its review of the acting in The Best of Me. With regard to the film’s plot, it doesn’t come up with anything more encouraging than saying it is ‘universally panned,’ and that it is a ‘predictable, weepy romance.’ With regard to the actors, their review reads as follows:

    “This negative reaction is really unfair to James Marsden, Luke Bracey, Michelle Monaghan, and Liana Liberato, not to mention Gerald McRaney who should get some sort of gong for his work in this film, all these actors brought much to this predictable weepy romance.”

    What more can people honestly expect from a Nicholas Sparks film? His books are love stories, and love stories more often than not translate on to the big screen as weepy and predictable.

    If you think Michelle Monaghan is gorgeous (she is) and James Marsden is sexy (he is), then by all means check out The Best of Me. If you’re looking for Academy Award-winning performances and cinematic brilliance–wait until it’s available ‘On-Demand.’

  • Michelle Monaghan On “Romantic” Nicholas Sparks Role

    Michelle Monaghan has several successful credits under her belt, including Source Code and The Bourne Supremacy, but after her intriguing star-turn on the HBO megahit True Detective earlier this year, her name is everywhere. And now that she’s starring in a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, her talent is about to reach a huge audience who likely have their tissues at the ready.

    The actress sat down for an interview with Refinery29.com recently and spoke a bit about the role, saying she’s not sure where The Best Of Me stacks up against hits like The Notebook, but that it’s definitely one that will tug at the emotions.

    “It is Nicholas Sparks, so he definitely has that formula of knowing how to tap into people’s hearts. I would agree that it’s a tearjerker, but I don’t know how it sizes up to The Notebook. It’s definitely emotional, beautiful, passionate, and heartrending. If you’re a fan of The Notebook, then you’re going to love this movie,” she said.

    Monaghan also talked about how different the role was for her, considering so many of the characters she’s played have been restrained, in a way. As Maggie Hart on True Detective, she was a woman caught between her love for her two daughters and her troubled marriage to a man who grew more distant with each passing day. Here, she’s able to tap into a softer side.

    “For me, this film allowed me to tap into my romantic side, which is something I haven’t been able to do in previous roles. I’ve never been able to do a love story, and this is such a timeless love story. Several of the characters that I’ve played have had a lot of restraint or have been very stoic. I love that this character feels and is expressive. It’s really nice to play that side of myself,” she said.

    While The Best Of Me has gotten mixed reviews–as many adaptations of Sparks’ work does–the performance that Monaghan and co-star James Marsden give has consistently been praised, with their chemistry mentioned in several reviews.

  • Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling Fought On The Notebook

    Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams seemed to have had amazing chemistry both on-screen and off-screen while filming Nicholas Spark’s novel The Notebook.

    However, during a recent interview with VH1 to commemorate the film’s ten-year anniversary, the film’s director Nick Cassavetes revealed that the pair didn’t always get along, and Gosling even tried to have McAdams thrown off set.

    “Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not,” Cassavetes told VH1. “And Ryan came to me, and there’s 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, ‘Nick come here.’ And he’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?’ I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it with her. I’m just not getting anything from this.’”

    Cassavetes then explained that Gosling’s comment lead to a screaming match. “We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other,” Cassavetes said. “I walked out. At that point I was smoking cigarettes. I smoked a cigarette and everybody came out like, ‘All right let’s do this.’ And it got better after that. They had it out… I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open. The rest of the film wasn’t smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing.”

    The co-stars started dating nearly a year after The Notebook debuted, but later split in 2007 and briefly reconciled in 2008. Gosling referred to his relationship with McAdams not long after their first break-up calling her “one of the great loves of my life.”

    “God bless The Notebook. It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life,” he told GQ magazine. “But people do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • James Marsden Offered Paul Walker Role

    James Marsden has been offered the Nicholas Sparks role that would have gone to Paul Walker, it was announced today.

    Walker had signed on for “The Best Of Me” and “Agent 47” before his tragic death in a car accident on Thanksgiving weekend, and both films will still go on. “Agent 47” is an action film, a sequel to the 2007 hit “Hitman”, and will reportedly star Rupert Friend in the role Walker would have taken.

    Marsden is well-known for his parts in the “X-Men” movies and recently did “Anchorman 2” and “Business Trip” with Vince Vaughn.

    “The Best Of Me” will also star Michelle Monaghan and focuses on two former high-school sweethearts who reunite at their reunion twenty years later. According to MTV.com, the story focuses on “Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole, high-school sweethearts who went their separate ways after graduation. Twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson return to their hometown for the funeral of the man who supported their high-school romance. As the two are drawn back together, and drawn deeper into circumstances surrounding their mentor’s death, Amanda and Dawson learn that their past was not all that it seemed.”

    Walker had been tapped for “Fast and Furious 7” at the time of his death, and the studio was forced to come up with a respectful way to retire his character from the franchise late last year.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons