Rated
PG-13 (Some Sexuality and Violence)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 41 Minutes
Cast-
Zac
Efron-First Sergeant Logan Thibault
Taylor
Schilling-Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Clayton
Blythe
Danner-Ellie\Nana
Jay
R. Ferguson-Keith Clayton
Riley
Thomas Stewart-Ben Clayton
Adam
LeFevre-Judge Clayton
Robert
Hayes-Victor Miles
Directed
by Scott Hicks
 |
| Every film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel must have a scene like this. |
Let
me just preface this review by saying that I am a manly man because I am about
to drop a bombshell on you: I just saw a film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later given my line of work and I am not ashamed! I walked into that
screening with my head held high! Nicholas Sparks has made a name for himself
writing romantic fiction ever since his first published novel “The Notebook” reached
the New York Times best-seller list back
in 1996 and now has an additional sixteen
novels to his name, seven of which have already been adapted into film with
many more to come. During an interview with USA
Today two years ago where he was promoting “The Last Song” starring Miley
Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, Sparks remarked that he writes ‘in a genre that was
not defined by me. The examples were not set out by me. They were set out 2000
years ago by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. They were called the Greek
tragedies. A thriller is supposed to thrill. A horror novel is supposed to
scare you. A mystery is supposed to keep you turning the pages, guessing
whodunit?’ He continues by saying that ‘a romance novel is supposed to make you
escape into a fantasy of romance. What is the purpose of what I do? These are
love stories. They went from [Greek tragedies], to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, then Jane Austen did
it, put a new human twist on it. Hemingway did it with A Farewell to Arms.’ Picking up Hemingway’s novel, he proudly
concludes by comparing his work to the acclaimed 20th century writer and calls Cormac
McCarthy’s novels ‘horrible.’ This prompted a rather hilarious response from
film critic Roger Ebert, where he wrote that he ‘[resented] the sacrilege
Nicholas Sparks commits by even mentioning himself in the same sentence as
Cormac McCarthy.’ I have no doubt that Sparks is a competent writer but he
needs to get his head checked…seriously. Of course, I doubt he even cares given
all the money he makes and it appears that Sparks is about to get richer thanks
to the upcoming release of “The Lucky One,” based upon the novel of the same
name published in 2008. While it is not as terrible as I had initially feared,
the overly sappy and melodramatic tone, combined with its formulaic and clichéd
script make this film a mediocre and ultimately forgettable experience.
During
his third tour of duty in Iraq, United States marine Logan Thibault (Zac Efron)
finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt but is then
caught off-guard by an explosive ambush. He alone survives and the picture
subsequently becomes his good luck charm. Logan returns home to Colorado eight
months later but is unable to readjust to civilian life due to post-traumatic
stress disorder. Taking his German Shepherd Zeus with him, he decides to search
for the woman in the picture. His journey takes him to a small town in
Louisiana where the woman, Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Clayton (Taylor Schilling), runs a
dog kennel with her grandmother (Blythe Danner). Unable to explain why he is
looking for her, Logan ends up applying for a job to help around the kennel.
Beth is initially wary of him but the two eventually fall in love after she
sees how good he is with her seven-year-old son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart).
However, Beth’s ex-husband, a deputy sheriff named Keith (Jay R. Ferguson),
views Logan with suspicion and puts their relationship to the test when he tries
to drive a wedge between him and Beth.
Before I begin, I just want to point you
toward a funny but true pictogram on Cracked.com titled How to Write a Nicholas Sparks Movie. “The Lucky One” follows the
formula presented on that website to the
letter. Even if you have never read a Nicholas Sparks novel or seen one of
the film adaptations based on his work, it’s hard not to feel a strong sense of
déjà vu because this is a story that has been told countless times already to
the point that there is no drama left in seeing the events unfold before your
eyes. This is not the fault of director Scott Hicks as he is just delivering
what fans of Nicholas Sparks want—romantic cheese. As such, many of the scenes in
the film are accompanied by perpetual sunsets and a mellow soundtrack while
Efron’s Logan and Schilling’s Beth spend the film swooning all over each other.
To no one’s surprise, a love scene is included where our lovers roll around and
get all wet from a still-on showerhead while slowly thrusting into each other.
Seriously, you cannot make this stuff
up, unless your name is Nicholas Sparks! There are also moments of
unintentional hilarity such as when Beth is unable to concentrate on washing
the dishes because she’s busy mentally undressing Logan as he is unloads bags
of dog food outside her window. This ends up making “The Lucky One” looking
like a terrible sex fantasy for women. The central conflict between Logan and
Keith is also contrived because the latter character is depicted as an overly
cartoonish villain while the internal debate of whether Logan should tell Beth
his secret is virtually ignored until the end. Themes of destiny and fate play
a part in the story as well but Will Fetters’ script offers no meaningful
insight due to the superficial manner in which they are explored.
Zac Efron and
Taylor Schilling may have been cast based on their looks but the acting remains
competent with the two able to convincingly sell the romance despite the Hallmark-quality sentimentalism. Efron’s brooding and glazed expression is supposed
to betray his sensitive side but his character ends up being rather dull
because the writer has failed to give him any real flaws whatsoever. He is the
perfect gentleman who is both a passionate lover and handy around the house! Still, I admire that Efron is trying to
be taken seriously as an actor but he won’t be winning any awards starring in
films like this. Schilling starred in last year’s critically reviled “Atlas
Shrugged Part I” based upon the first third of Ayn Rand’s novel of the same
name and while her performance can be somewhat uneven, she shares enough
chemistry with Efron to make up for any shortcomings. Blythe Danner is the
stereotypical grandmother who sees through Beth’s excuses and offers advice
while Jay R. Ferguson ends up being little more than a caricature villain of a
husband unable to take a hint and move on.
“The Lucky One” will be released
into theaters on April 20, 2012 and currently has a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Films based upon the novels of Nicholas Sparks have all received mixed to
negative reviews and I expect this one to be no different from the others. I
managed to see this film early at a free advanced screening and the audience
was predominantly female unsurprisingly. They seemed to enjoy the film’s inherent
cheesiness but I am pretty sure I
heard a couple of sniffles at the end. Box office wise, I’m predicting an
opening weekend debut of $15 to $17 million, which is average for a Nicholas
Sparks adaptation. I must admit that if the tickets weren’t free in the first
place, I would not have seen or
reviewed this film. “The Lucky One” is far from terrible and offers up some
unintentional comedy but there is little that audiences haven’t seen before.
This makes for a perfectly adequate date movie if your lady has a craving for
something romantic for the night but be prepared for a number of eye-rolling
moments. You could certainly do a lot worse though.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
“You
should be kissed every day, every hour, every minute.” (No man says stuff like
that!)
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