Saturday, April 21, 2012
Straight off the top, I'm a bit of a Zac Efron fan. I think he looked incredibly hot in this film but that was really the best thing about it (which as a film critic is unfortunately not enough)... if you agree, or disagree, with my thoughts please voice them here!
The Lucky One (M)
Perhaps it's meant to be. Logan (Zac Efron) serves three terms in Iraq as a US Marine, surviving bomb attacks and raids after his best friend is killed in combat. He believes a photo he found of Beth (Taylor Schilling) brought him good luck, and on returning home he sets out to find her and give his thanks.
But life, in his circumstance, is never that simple. Logan struggles to explain about his time in warfare and why he's appeared in Beth's life, and hangs around to befriend her, son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart) and her grandmother Ellie (Blythe Danner). To Beth's ex-husband Keith (Jay R. Ferguson), Logan is a threat and does his best to get him to leave.
Adelaide director Hicks seems an odd choice to helm this sort of offering, Sparks adaptations having the critics that they do. The formula of troubled souls that come together to find romance remains, with small-town pettiness from people or situations appearing as the obstacle to finding true love.
Walking into a Nicholas Sparks adaptation brings along a certain level of expectation, just as much as any superhero or other franchise. The all-American romantic fare he creates screams 'movie potential' to production companies targeting a soppy audience, but Scott Hicks makes it clear that this isn't a huge tearjerker.
The idyllic location is beautiful, yet presents itself unconsciously as typical for romance to blossom in the spring air. But to be fair, it's not all squeaky clean as Hicks injects a bit of passion with an intimate scene not usually of the like. It's this that sees the film pushing the boundaries further than previous Sparks adaptations.
It also comes as a warning to parents that Zac Efron's not the boy from High School Musical anymore. While his star continues to rise it's not from this, his performance not exciting and relying on those (gorgeous) blue eyes of his to try and seal the deal. He can't even catch a break off-screen, the premieres in Australia arguably overshadowed by the arrival of those boys from One Direction.
The initial impression of a young boy entering the 'real' world with 'real' problems sticks around, and while returning from war would indeed throw you off how to be normal it doesn't make for comfortable viewing. Schilling as Beth disappointingly never makes a comfortable or believable fit as someone Logan's age, but thankfully Danner as Ellie provides some normality and a little bit of humour to help this one along.
Finding love takes time, and this plods along happily until the climatic and somewhat unnecessarily dramatic ending. Hicks has done well with the content to make it an easy watch, but the lack of interesting characters doesn't make it memorable. The exception is Stewart as Ben, who at 8 can play violin, baseball and chess with impressive skill. He's really the lucky one in this story.
Rating: 2.5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 21/4/2012
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