Photo via New Line Cinema

the on-screen chemistry of every nicholas sparks couple, ranked

which sparks couple has the most sparks?

by Bilge Ebiri

Lush Southern settings, beautifully tormented lovers, and tragic storylines. Yes, there’s a new Nicholas Sparks movie out. This week’s The Longest Ride brings together the world of competitive bull-riding, art history, and a star-crossed romance set in North Carolina’s Jewish community during WWII (no, really). Over the years, the author of The Notebook and countless other romantic potboilers has become Hollywood’s go-to source for (often teen-friendly) passion. Here’s the thing with Sparks adaptations, though: The plots may be ridiculous, the dialogue hare-brained, but somehow, none of that matters if the romantic leads have real chemistry. So, we went through all the Sparks-based movies Hollywood has given us to date, and assessed the onscreen couples (there are thirteen of them, because some movies have more than one) based on how good they are together.