14 Awesome Performances In Otherwise Awful 2015 Movies

8. Alan Alda - The Longest Ride

The Movie: George Tillman, Jr. delivers a drama that's slightly better than the usual hokey, schmaltzy Nicholas Sparks adaptation, but still absolutely cut from the same cloth. The sentiment is excessive, the sex scenes are so sterile they look like they belong in a Lifetime movie, it's awash in subplots, and the run-time extends to a wildly excessive 130 minutes. Oh, and as every Sparks movie is apparently duty-bound to do, it delivers a laughably preposterous ending that feels woefully tacked on. The Performance: In the grand tradition of legendary actors stealing the show in supporting roles in Nicholas Sparks movies (one kickstarted by Richard Jenkins in Dear John and continued by Gerald McRaney in last year's The Best of Me), Alan Alda is superb as the kindly old man who, of course, guides the two star-crossed lovers towards one another. Even though Alda could easily have phoned it in for a quick paycheck, he gives it his all and is truly the one emotionally convincing part of the movie, even if it's not much of a stretch for a performer of his caliber.