The Lucky One Review

25th Apr 2012

Zac Efron plays Logan, a US Army soldier home from his third tour in Iraq. But he’s not on a USO tour, he’s a Marine – a serious, angry detached Marine. It’s all very serious.

Logan finds a picture of a blonde woman whilst in Iraq. It becomes a good luck talisman and he vows to find and thank said lucky lady. Luckily, blonde women are a scarce commodity in America and he finds her in about ten minutes (well he is a marine!). She’s running a dog kennel (aww) with Grandma, Blythe Danner (who is utterly charming and wonderful as always), and her curly-haired cherubic son, Ben, played by Riley Thomas Stuart. So far so ridiculous, but wait – it gets worse. Also on the scene is a mean old ex-husband, whose powerful connections mean that he can take her son away at any minute – I know you’re thinking – arn’t there laws against that? Apparently not in whatever part of the States they are in. But one sight of Logan’s buns are enough to turn Beth, played by Taylor Schilling, from a meek little lady into feisty little vixen and the ex is dismissed in one scene, and a passionate love affair ensues in the next, who knew it was all going to be so easy?!

Watching The Lucky One is like swimming in fondue; it’s a gloopy, cheesy mess that you can’t escape and it feels gross and icky. The script is clawing and cringe-worthy, with groan-out-loud moments; never a good sign. The scenery is stunning and it’s beautifully shot, but that only really works if I care about the people in the shot, not just the lovely furniture and palette choices.

I loved The Notebook, it’s an epic sweeping romance that is OTT, but works because it feels real. I’m also a fan of Zac Efron and though 17 Again is brilliant. In fairness, he does look the part and has added a serious amount of heft. But he seems annoyed in every scene in this film – maybe he doesn’t do serious very well or, more likely, he knows that this film sucks. There is absolutely no chemistry between him and Taylor Schilling and their romance seems purely perfunctory. The only real chemistry exists between him and Ben, Beth’s son. Even these scenes are taken to their clichéd maximum, with an awful violin solo scene where Logan brings out the virtuoso in Ben, gag.

I would advise against seeing this film, but as it’s #2 at the US Box Office at the moment and I’m guessing that means that most people are going to head over to see it anyway. If you’re going for Zac, sigh, I understand, but don’t expect his shirt to be off for long enough to make it worth it.