Review: The Lucky One
The Lucky One is the latest romantic drama based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, starring Zac Efron. These two facts alone should be enough to ward off anyone with a Y chromosome from this film. A word of advice -- don't be fooled that the main character is a Marine who has served three tours in Iraq, this movie does not have broad appeal. Sparks is known for his modern romance novels, and the story of The Lucky One appears as a thinly re-imagined mashup of Message in a Bottle and Dear John with the tracking down of a found object and star-crossed lovers.
The Lucky One features Efron as Logan Thibault, a Marine who travels on foot from Colorado to North Carolina after serving three tours in Iraq to search for the unknown woman he believes was his guardian angel during the war. His discovery of the photo of a smiling blonde beauty happens at such an opportune moment that it saves his life in an Iraqi war zone, and he keeps the photo as a good luck charm.
With only a lighthouse as a landmark in the photo, he tracks down Beth (Taylor Schilling) who lives with her Nana (Blythe Danner) and son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart). Logan's intent is simply to thank her, but instead winds up working at her dog kennel. Logan quickly encounters Beth's dominating ex-husband who is also a local deputy sheriff. Beth herself struggles with the pain from losing her younger brother Drake a year earlier in the Iraqi war, without clear resolution of his death.
The casting and characterization of The Lucky One is fairly solid, although there's a bit of typecasting with supporting characters including Jay R. Ferguson as Beth's ex-husband Keith Clayton and Adam LeFevre as Judge Clayton. Child actor Riley Thomas Stewart, who has a reasonable amount of screen time, is quite effective in his role. Efron is brooding enough to portray an ex-Marine with possible PTSD issues, although the chemistry between him and Schilling is not as steamy as expected. It is Danner who really steals the show in this film, lighting up the screen with her wit and mirth.
Just as Nicholas Sparks romance novels have become formulaic, this movie attempts to take the ingredients from past films based on his novels. The cinematography of sun-filled creeks is reminiscent of A Walk to Remember. Beth's wardrobe is almost exclusively white, playing on the symbolism of her as Logan's guardian angel. Despite the screenwriting of Will Fetters and the direction of Scott Hicks (Shine), The Lucky One does not come anywhere close to the success and complexity of The Notebook. Not having entirely read the novel this film is based on, I can only assume that fault lies with the source material itself. It would be a challenge for any filmmaking team to deal with the lack of substance, although the screenwriter may have cut some plot points that would have made for a stronger story.
Based on my experience at the special screening of The Lucky One, my suggestion to women is to please leave your men at home and make this a girlie night out. The few passionate scenes were ruined for our seating area by raucous laughter by several male moviegoers in the row behind us. If you do convince your significant other to watch this chick flick, and he can make it through the entire film without squirming in his seat then please -- oblige him with the next testosterone-charged action movie.