Along for the Ride Review: Netflix’s Adaptation of Sarah Dessen’s Teen Rom-Com is All Sparkle, No Substance

Netflix tries to bring teenage love to life in its new romantic comedy Along for the Ride, but never quite gives itself a chance to flourish. 

The film serves as a follow-up to Alvarez’s last Netflix teen rom-com powerhouse franchise To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and like Alvarez’s previous films, Along for the Ride is an adaptation of a popular YA novel, except this film swaps out Jenny Han for Sarah Dessen.

Anyone who has read Dessen and Han novels knows they are distinct but equally compelling and talented in their ability to grasp the feeling of first love and teen heartbreak, but where the To All The Boys series soars on both paper and screen, Along for the Ride falls undoubtedly flat.

It’s possible some of that has to do with Dessen not being credited as a writer on the film. Han, after all, was influential in the first To All The Boys movie, and when her credit disappeared in the follow-up, the peak story quality did, too, Condor and Centineo were just able to keep it afloat after the first film hooked viewers in. 

Along for the Ride isn’t gifted that time — it’s fall in love fast or don’t fall in love at all. While the film does find its groove once Auden and Eli connect more deeply towards the back half of the film, the first act is an egregious mess that rushes through Auden’s crucial — and I can say that, since I read the book — life backstory. 

Pasarow hesitates in her commitment to the material, feeling inexplicably emotionless in ways that are never explained. Book Auden is a slightly off-kilter 18-year-old with a desire for perfectionism, but she never feels empty or closed off in the way Pasarow portrays her.

Without sufficient backstory, Pasarow’s flat delivery is relatively inexplicable, especially when Auden feels like a character who should have some charisma, even if it’s begrudgingly.

Cameli fares slightly better thanks to being innately charming and well suited for the comedic beats, but the mysterious depth Eli holds that is as magnetic as it is morose, requires an emotional depth Cameli can’t quite get to, even when the moments call for it. 

Where Condor and Centineo were effervescent and natural together, Pasarow and Cameli feel like sandpaper — their dynamic works well enough in the more fraught scenes between their characters, but it doesn’t translate to the lighter, more romantic aspects of their relationship. They feel innately uncomfortable around each other most of the time, and not in that cute, innocent, teenage crush kind of way.

The two give it their best try, I guess, but it never really translates. Why Auden doesn’t have sparks with Eli is a mystery considering Cameli feels like someone who should have chemistry with a plant, but she ends up feeling better suited for former mean girl Maggie. 

I’m just saying, I wouldn’t have hated that plot twist. 

Teenage relationships — and how teenagers communicate with each other — should feel awkward at times, but they also need to feel real, and that’s where Along for the Ride struggles most.

Alvarez does shoot the movie beautifully and artistically enough that you’re never completely bored, and she showcases that directorial talent most during the couple’s first kiss. It’s exceptionally well shot, clever in its shaky camera angles that echo the shakey feeling of going into the unknown with a first love’s first kiss. 

There is also a bright spot among the young cast, and it’s rooted in the friendship. To watch an adolescent girl “find her people” is ultimately satisfying — especially for those of us that have been teen girls, angry and frustrated and determined to believe there will never be anyone who understands us.

It’s exactly what a summer before college should look like, proving teens can be intellectual without being pretentious, still have fun and break rules without the egregious rebellion of the teens on Euphoria.

Along for the Ride fits more in that sweet spot of what the best high school moments probably look like for the majority of us. Not too chaste, not too edgy, but just right.

Alvarez uses visuals to evoke an emotional response with a beautifully symbolic representation of all this throughout the entirety of the film, but it resonates most during the July 4th outing with Auden piled under her new friends as fireworks go off in the distance, and she begins to finally feel alive.

But there are plenty of other perfect moments of camaraderie to note, too. The dance breaks, for one, are a joy to witness, and the dedication to making sure girls aren’t portrayed as catty or callous is refreshing to see in a coming-of-age film. 

One of the film’s smallest but alluring moments comes in the third act when the boys and girls are divided up in a parking lot as Auden’s friends urge her to go talk to the guy she likes. Everyone “oohs’ and “aahs” when the duo heads off to chat alone, and they awkwardly stumble through overdue apologies.  

It’s undoubtedly the film’s most relatable scene, eliciting the memories of butterflies from being young and in love and terribly nervous, confused, and exhilarated all at once. 

There’s also the final act’s major prom sequence, which is just the right balance of cheesy and endearing. It lands as a much more fulfilling payoff than if Auden and Eli had simply enjoyed prom alone — even if it is weird that it all happens during the day.

The strongest performances of the film, however, come from the adult women. MacDowell and Bosworth bring color to the film in a way that elicits depth and nuance to what could have otherwise been seen as one-note secondary characters. 

Mulroney doesn’t quite reach that standard. Auden’s father is in many ways, what drives her story forward, but he isn’t given enough screentime to make a real impact. It doesn’t help that Mulroney plays the role like he’s embarrassed to be there, instead of figuring out a way to make his character resonate or hold any actual complexity.

MacDowell has every opportunity to fall into the same trap with Victoria — a character that could easily have been intolerable, and sometimes, still is — but she finds a way to make her presence interesting and compelling, even with the little material she’s given.

Bosworth may deliver the strongest performance of all, with a scene in the third act so incredibly heartbreaking and raw it makes your heart feel like it’s being ripped out of your chest. It’s so effective, you kind of feel like she has no business being that good in this movie.

The film does get better– mainly because the characters begin to feel slightly more lived in over time — which is why the decision to end Along for the Ride with a misplaced coda feels so strange.

A slow fade out from Eli and Auden’s epic ocean kiss would have been the perfect way to end this story, yet we travel to college with Auden for an entirely too-long bonus sequence.

It’s nice to know Auden went on to college and flourished — but we already kind of knew she would, didn’t we? Along for the Ride doesn’t need to drag us along to Auden’s next chapter. We’re better off in the right here, right now, enjoying her last fleeting moments of a summer she will never forget.

After that,  I am ready to get off this ride. 
 

 

What did you think of Along for the Ride? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Along for the Ride is now airing on Netflix. 

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