Along for the Ride review: Emma Pasarow's teen romantic film is a done-and-dusted story of love, friendship and self-identity

2/5

Story:

Auden moves to her father and step mother's place in Colby to spend her summer before college. An awkward high school student, she meets a fellow insomniac Eli in the beach town and falls in love with him. She also makes friends with three other students with whom she works at a store.

Review:

Another teen romantic movie, the film 'Along for the Ride' has nothing new to offer. It does not even make for a great one-time easy-breezy watch. It's a done-and-dusted story of romance, friendship and identity crisis.

A socially-awkward student, Auden goes to live with her father and step mother in the beach town of Colby. Even her characterisation is kinda boring and old-school. She is seen maintaining a journal where she writes that she'd try and find herself while she is at Colby. She hopes things would be different but as soon as she arrives, she is ignored by her busy father and is unable to spend time with her step mother who is swamped with the duties of a newborn baby. Her introductions scene with her father is quite interesting. He asks her if she would like some onion rings for lunch and she says yes. He then gives her some money the card of the restaurant where she can find them and wishes her well. When she asks if her father wouldn't join her, he says he is swamped with work and asks her to get him a burger.

So the film is basically about an ignored and socially-awkward teenager, traumatised by her parent's divorce, finding herself amidst a new place. She happens to meet a mysterious and a fellow insomniac, Eli with whom she ends up doing all on her bucketlist and falls in love with. The two call it a 'quest'. Even the title for their tasks is boring. The moment they meet and Auden's new friends tell her that he usually does not hang out with anyone, you know that they are going to fall for each other.

Auden invites Eli to a party, which he attends no more after the death of his best friend in a car accident. Eli, as predictable, considers himself responsible for his death and avoids everything that he loves to do, including BMX and parties. He shuts his bike repair shop, where he works when Auden invites him to the party and they have a fight. But of course, he does show up. And Auden becomes a best friend of someone who ridiculed or hated her at first. They even end up going to college and staying together.

The dance break the four girls at the store take looks ridiculous. The first time they do it out of nowhere, even you wonder if they've gone crazy the way Auden does. A few dialogues in the movie try to make you at least gigle but it only makes your eyes roll and raise your eyebrows, like 'really'.

The good thing about the movie is its music and the makers end it abruptly to make it look natural instead of fading it out but it sometimes, seem jarring. The location is beautiful and the makers could have made better use of it. The performances of the cast members, especially Emma Pasarow, is good but even they and the locations couldn't save the movie.

Verdict:

The story of teen romance has nothing new to offer. It looks like any other classic Hallmark movie with predictable meet-cute story, twists and ending.