New Places are Hard: Along for the Ride
Along for the Ride is a book turned movie, coming of age story, and that surprised me. The slow, mediocre plot mixed with choppy dialogue is not the usual characteristics of a movie based on the book. Along for the Ride did have some redeeming features, but I wouldn’t watch it again.
Along for the Ride is not worth watching, unless you are a fan of the book. The lacklustre plot moves along without really accomplishing anything until the very end, and it feels like a lot of filler. There are some decent characters, and the story leans heavily on them. The dialogue bounces between well written, choppy, and cringey all in the same scene. Not Netflix’s best work, but defentiely not their worst.
Along for the Ride carries some heavy messaging that struggles to get through the slow plot and awkward dialogue.
What is Along for the Ride about?
Along for the Ride follows the story of Auden as she tries to discover who she really is. This involves moving to a town in the middle of nowhere, Colby, to live with her dad and step-mom to get out from under the watchful eye of her “helicopter mom”. Auden is a straight A student that hasn’t done anything wrong, ever. As a result, she is both hated and loved by the residents of Colby. Over time, she shakes off her cobwebs and spreads her wings.
Along for the Ride Review
Along for the Ride would be an interesting book to read, because this movie was not good. The characters were interesting, their backstories made sense, and they came together to create an entertaining environment. I even thought the character development was quite good. The plot on the other hand, was borderline bad.
For a movie that was an hour and 47 minutes, the first hour felt so sluggish. Things were occurring, but they didn’t hold a lot of value for the movie or for the viewer. It was really a struggle to get pasted the first half. I actually figured the movie was almost over before checking the time, as it felt like time had slowed down entirely.
The back half is much, much better. We get meaningful character interactions, we get some drama, and a little bit of suspense. The spinning tires finally catch solid ground and we are off to the races. I thought the ending was a really solid way to bring our story to a close and try to redeem the brutal beginning.
Our dialogue follows the same pattern as the plot, better as we go along, but I don’t think it ever truly reach “good”. There are moments of component dialogue, but they are few and far between. If this was branded as a Family movie, or something in that genre, I might be able to live it with, but as Drama/Romance it just doesn’t make the cut.
Along for the Ride tackles life after a major tragedy in a small town quite well, and the messaging behind it is the brightest spot of the movie. It moves from a place of darkness to a glimmer of hope, and represents death and loss in an honest way. While it isn’t the most hunky-dory movie topic, I thought it added value to the movie and gave it reason to exist.
Overall, this is going on my don’t watch again list. I wouldn’t watch it a second time unless you paid me, and I have a hard time recommending you watch it once. If these genres are up your alley, you might have a decent time with it. Otherwise, there are so many better movies out there to spend time watching.
