Movie Review: The Lucky One
Who’s the lucky one regarding this movie? Anyone with a crush on Zac Efron is. He is the stuff little girls’ dreams are made of. With blue eyes and a quiet, alluring disposition, it is no overstatement to say he is next to perfect. The Lucky One can by no means be compared to Nicholas Sparks’ acclaimed book/movie The Notebook, but it is decent in its own right. The scenery alone is, in a word, majestic – something right out of a Thomas Kinkade gallery. The film was shot in and around New Orleans, and is simply breathtaking much of the time. If you are partial to clichés and sappy love stories are your thing, this one will be sure to please.
The movie begins with Logan (Efron) in Iraq under fire as a Marine. Many lives are lost. In the aftermath Logan finds a picture of a beautiful woman in the ruble. He does his best to try and find out who the picture might belong to, but has no luck. During his three tours he sees an enormous amount of bloodshed, and begins to place his good fortune in staying alive with the photograph he has found, believing that the woman is his guardian angel. Eight months later he returns home determined to find and thank her. He travels on foot to North Carolina with his trusted German Shepherd Zeus. He soon learns that the woman’s name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and shows up at her home, where she runs a dog kennel. He does not get the opportunity to share his real reason for coming and ends up taking a job working at the kennel. Initially, Beth is suspicious of him; she has recently lost her brother in the war, has undergone a divorce from an abusive man, and has a young son to care for. Inevitably, she falls for the handsome Logan, as their romance is blooming; there is constant interference from Beth’s ex-husband, Keith Clayton (Jay R. Ferguson), a bullying police officer. Despite this, Logan forms a bond with Beth’s family. Her son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart) does a phenomenal job here and is instantly likeable. Beth’s grandmother, the beautiful, older gal, Ellie (Blythe Danner) is also worthy of mention. The comforting presence she lends to the film is not dissimilar to the many other roles she has played.
Keith continues to try and make trouble for Logan, finding the photograph of Beth and showing it to her. Without giving too much away, she does not react as one might expect. Personally I think she should have been flattered. She gets upset, and ends the romance. Shortly after this, a tragedy befalls, and Logan comes to the rescue, he is then forgiven, and is able to share some information he has about her brother that she desperately needs to heel. Schilling as Beth plays her role well as a down home girl.
The two main actors together do have a certain chemistry that is sure to be noticed by viewers. But as I stated above, The Lucky One is really all about Zac Efron. You will either be completely drawn in by his sultriness, or brought to the point of gagging. For me, it was just a little bit of both.
Betsy Cizek
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