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: Magdalena Kombong
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In the opening scene, Luke (Scott Eastward) is riding a bull and falling off of it; the
commentators seem concerned as his fall seemed unsafe.
Then the movie cuts to Sophia, a young college student at Wake Forest College. She is in her
room at her sorority house with her best friend handing her a pair of boots and begging her to
come to a bull riding competition. Her friend calls her boring and tells her that she can't
spend her whole life studying. She relenting goes to the competition and watches Luke (and
several other riders) ride the Bulls. Luke is attempting to make a comeback at the
championship after his fall. He rides the bull for the required amount of time and dismounts.
As he waves to the crowd the bull charges in his direction, so he heads to the rails, in his rush
his hat falls into the lap of Sophia, and he tells her to keep it. Later that night while everyone
is drunk at the bar, Sophia heads outside and runs into Luke, who recognizes his hat and says
"hi". They are both about to make their way inside for a drink, but Sophia runs into her friend
who is noticeably drunk and feels sick. They all agree it's best for Sophia to take her friend
home. Luke takes Sophia's number.
Luke calls Sophia, but she doesn't answer because she has an upcoming art internship in New
York after she graduates in two months and doesn't think it worthwhile to pursue a
relationship. Her friend (who was drunk in the bar that night) convinces her to call him as all
the sorority girls would like to be with a handsome bull rider like that. He takes her out to a
secluded lake and brings some delicious barbecue take out for them to eat. On the ride home,
though it's pouring outside, Luke notices some missing rails on a bridge, reverses and run

towards a car- It's on fire, and an elderly passenger is inside. As he is rescuing the old man, he
keeps yelling about saving a box in the front seat. Sophia grabs the box, and they take him to
the hospital. Sophia agrees to stay behind with the elderly gentleman and they part ways as
Sophia explained to him earlier that she won't be in town for much longer.
While in the waiting room, Sophia opens the box and discovers a lot of letters. She opens one
and find that it's addressed from a young Ira to his late wife, Ruth. When he's out of surgery,
Sophia introduces herself and hands him the box. The old man is giving trouble to eat his
food so she says she'll read him one of the letters (as his eyesight is not a good as it used to
be) if he eats. While eating we cut to a scene with a young Ira being introduced to a young
immigrant Ruth from Austria, at his parents store; he is at a loss for words.
Ira observes her around town but doesn't approach her out of shyness. He finally summons up
the courage to approach her with a rose in his hand, but sees another young man talking to
her and so throws away the Rose as he walks off, but she sees him as he walks away. Another
day at a joint gathering she approaches him and wonders why he hasn't said "hi" even though
he always stares at her, she said its a shame he threw away the rose.
In the present day, Sophia asks old Ira if she would like her to read another letter but as he is
crying he asks her to do it another time. Sophia comes back to visit old Ira regularly and so
the rest of the movie is intertwined with scenes of Ira and Ruth and the present. Luke
continues to ride bulls and is shown throughout the movie in a series of competitions
climbing the ranks, and his aim is to be number one. Driving home one day, he notices a
picture in his car of young Ira and Ruth and so goes back to the hospital to return the picture
to the old man, where he runs into Sophia. As he turns to leave Sophia asks him to go out
sometime and he accepts. He tells her hell take her bull riding, but she agrees to ride a horse.
They go home to his ranch and after a day of horse back riding she dares him to a race but
before he can stop her she runs right into the lake hidden behind the grass. He takes her inside
for her to change and have a shower. As she is entering the bathroom, he offers her soup
when she gets out. While undressing they both notice that the door is slightly open, so she
takes off her clothes slowly making eye contact with him. He joins her, and they have sex in
the shower.
Ruth and Ira continue courting enjoying dates on the beach and at art galleries. One day she
pulls him into a hotel lobby and shows him a picture of art and explains how beautiful it is
and her interpretation of it. He is also shown having dinner with her family one night where
we learn that art is looked upon highly in her family. He proposes to her one day on the
beach, and she says that she wants a large family. It is then shown that he is called off to serve
in the war; they are both sad, but she promises to wait for him til he returns. While in the
middle of the battlefield one of his fellow wounded soldiers calls for help. Many of his
colleagues are hiding in a ditch as shots and bombs are being fired, so they see helping him a
suicide mission. Ira decides to help against the warning of a colleague. He grabs the wounded
soldier but is shot on the way even though they both make it to safety.
Next he is shown in the hospital, and while he is still alive he is sent home but the reason is
not yet known. Upon arriving home he is shown outside Ruth's home but doesn't have the
courage to enter. She approaches him in a diner saying that his mom called to tell Ruth that
he has been home for a few days, and she is upset as he hasn't called her. She demands to
know why he won't talk to her as she waited all that time for him and wanted to marry him.

He reveals that the injury left him unable to have kids and said that he can't give her the
family that she wants so she should continue without him. She says that she loves him and
will marry him regardless. On one of their dates he takes her to an open house and asks her if
she likes it, she says yes and he reveals the keys in his hands and inside the house he reveals
the painting she loved from the hotel lobby. They hang it in the house.
Sophia and Luke are now in a relationship. While talking to his mom one day at home, she
reveals that his father was also a bull rider who passed away several years ago. Luke rides
Bulls as a way to keep the ranch and his mom afloat. Sophia's boss calls her and tells her that
the New York art dealer will be in Charlotte that weekend and asks if she'd be interested in
meeting him, she says yes. On leaving to meet the art curator she receives a call from Luke's
friend and finds out that he took a rough fall and is in the hospital. She calls her boss to let
her know she can't make it this weekend.
While at the hospital, she hears the doctor warn Luke not to ride again, as he was warned
against riding after his serious injury (for which he has a scar on his chest) at the beginning of
the movie. Sophia is concerned as she cares about Luke, and doesn't want him to harm
himself, upon being discharged from the hospital she assumes he will stop riding bulls but
when he tells her he won't she breaks up with him as she can't be with him if he is harming
himself unnecessarily especially after she called her boss to cancel both the meeting this
weekend and her upcoming internship so they could be together. His mom says that he is
making a mistake letting her go as she is the rest of his life. When he explains that he does it
for his mom, she says she will make it without the ranch and that the only person he is doing
it for is himself.
Sophia meets with Ira at his home as he has been discharged from the hospital. She learns
that adoption was not as easy in those days so Ruth took a job as a school teacher so she
could be around kids. Though it is shown that it still isn't enough for her. She notices a kid
asleep in class one day and it is obvious that he needs a bath, she visits his home to find and
impoverished half brother cares for him and neither he nor his wife care much for the boy.
Ruth takes extra care of the boy bringing him home after school and feeding him some days.
Ruth and Ira become attached to the boy and look into adopting him, but his half-brother says
no. She cries and says there must be another way, but Ira says that his lawyer said there was
no other way. This is a small town, and his brother is legal guardian so there is no way they
will win in court. Upon bringing the boy to his family for the last time, she tells him that he
can be anything he wants to be a farmer, a scientist a lawyer. Whatever he wants to be as he is
a smart young boy.
This loss and Ira's level headed approach to the situation is too much for Ruth as she
considered the boy a part of their family. She packs her bag and leaves as she wants children
too badly. Ira cries but loves her enough to want her happy and so let's her leave. She comes
back a few days later, and they grown old together, continuing to collect art and have
adventures until one morning in their old age Ruth doesn't wake up. After her funeral, Ira
says that a woman showed up to his door, she is the wife of the young man Daniel, and they
wanted to adopt. She reveals that he has passed on but was not only a teacher but professor at
University College of London; she returned to America after he died. He was inspired by Ira's
wife who told him as a child that he could be whatever he wanted to be. Words that clearly
struck a chord with him and so upon reading Ruth's name in the obituary she felt compelled
to visit. She hands him a framed portrait. While the portrait is not shown, a picture of Ruth
and Ira stuck to it is. This is the same picture Ira had with him the night of the accident.

Cut to present day, when Luke is ranked number five in the world and is competing for the
championship. From the hat pick, it is shown that he will ride the number 1 bull for the
championship. His hand is still shaky from his accident, but he rides the bull and the entire
time he is looking in the audience to the empty seat where Sophia usually sits. He rides the
bull long enough and is now ranked number 1 rider in the world. Sophia receives a call one
day and is notified that Ira has died, she starts crying but is invited to an invitation only
auction for his art the following week. Luke also receives an invitation in the mail.
Apparently, Ruth has an eye for art, and amassed a large collection throughout their lifetime,
which Ira took down after she died because the painting were a permanent reminder of her
and too painful to bear. They have Warhols and other paintings by famous artists in their
collection as Ruth was great at identifying young talent.
Luke arrives late and stands to the back of the room while the first picture goes to auction, it
is a picture of Ruth painted by Daniel. The auctioneer offers $1,000 with no takers and so
goes down to $800 with still no takers. At $600 Luke purchases the photo, and Sophia is
surprised to see him. The auction is on hold until he finalizes the purchase, and in the other
room, Sophia says "hi". He tells her that all thought he wanted was to be the #1 bull rider, but
the entire time he was riding the bull, he was thinking of her. He realizes that she is his life,
and he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. They kiss and can't keep their hands off
each other til the curator calls them up. The auction was put on hold as Ira's lawyer reveals
that the entire collection now belongs to the owner of the picture of Ruth. He reads a letter
from Ira explaining that Ruth was his heart and his entire life belonged to her so the entire
collection will go along with the painting of the love of his life Ruth. Luke is unsure what the
hysteria breaking out in the room is about as people start asking him how much he wants for
the pictures. Sophia grabs his hand and explains that he is now a millionaire.
In the final scene, Sophia is seen at a art gallery surrounded by Ira's pictures and is shown
locking the door to the room and jumping into a car with Luke. The building she left is the
'Ira and Ruth Levinson Museum'.