Nearly everything that transpires in The Lucky One is one after the other moment of serendipity. A marine (Zac Efron) in Afghanistan survives almost certain death by a whisker simply because he bends over to pick up a picture of a woman (Taylor Schilling). Giving all the credit for his being alive to the picture and the woman in it, he returns to the U.S. without any inkling of the identity of the woman in the picture. What happens soon after? He runs into the woman while passing through a town and voila, hes instantly taken in by her. However with so much good luck floating about, some tragedy is just around the corner and it does strike right on schedule. So do the two share that magical connection?
I have to say that surprisingly Zac Efron acts better than I expected him to. The story and the movie might be a sentimental doozy but he rises above the material and truly seems to get under the skin of the character. I wish I could say the same of Taylor Schilling; however her performance is uneven to say the least.
The movies sappy tone is expected from anything that bears the Nicholas Sparks name on it and not everyone will be able to tolerate the warm, fuzzy feeling the movies tries so desperately to percolate into the viewers via lush scenery and sentimental music. Having said that, it still is better than a lot of the movies based on Sparks works though not a patch on The Notebook & Message in a Bottle.
Id recommend you rather wait for the movie to arrive on television or on home video than spend money to watch it in the theatre.
Share