Featured Audience Ratings

• Cynthia S

  
  A nice, heartfelt story of love and redemption. Emotional, but not overly sappy. Really nice cast. Zac Efron is becoming quite a good actor, and is definitely easy on the eyes. Blythe Danner is outstanding, as usual...

• Manu G

  
  You should be kissed every day, every hour, every minute. Good movie! Zac Efron does a decent job playing the character of Logan, however, he just can't pull off the tough-guy look that is essential in this film. He will always be remembered as Troy Bolton from "High School… More
  You should be kissed every day, every hour, every minute. Good movie! Zac Efron does a decent job playing the character of Logan, however, he just can't pull off the tough-guy look that is essential in this film. He will always be remembered as Troy Bolton from "High School Musical". In any case, this is a tear-jerking, cheesy movie that most teenage girls would enjoy. It's not terrible, yet nothing special. Logan is a marine serving in Iraq. While there, he finds a photo of a girl with "keep safe" written on the back. He is admiring it when his unit is attacked. He survives and credits the photo for saving him. He tries to find the owner but can't, assuming he was killed. When he goes back to the States, he finds it difficult to adjust and is still haunted by what happened. Analyzing the photo, he finds in the background a landmark that tells him she is in Louisiana. He then goes there and finds her. He learns her name is Beth. He tries to tell her what happened but can't get the words out. She assumes he's there to apply for the job they advertised looking for someone to help at her family's business, a dog kennel. He says yes but at first she gets an uneasy feeling from him but her grandmother decides to give him a chance. It isn't long that he makes a connection with her son. He then discovers that it was her brother who had the picture only he doesn't remember him. He sees that her brother's death has a profound effect on her. Eventually they get close which makes her grandmother happy but not her ex who is a deputy sheriff who's always threatening to take their son away from her.

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  "A good enough film with decent acting. The problem is that the film was predictable with a dash of cheese. I mean, I am not big on romance films and this movie is a great example of why. Too much cheese without enough depth. I think Riley Thomas was cute and did a good job. I… More
  "A good enough film with decent acting. The problem is that the film was predictable with a dash of cheese. I mean, I am not big on romance films and this movie is a great example of why. Too much cheese without enough depth. I think Riley Thomas was cute and did a good job. I even liked Zac in this. I think he's starting to grow on me. The more serious roles he takes, the more I like him. I've seen better from Sparks though. Not a film I would watch again, unless I had to."

• Nicki M

  
  Okay movie to watch, but honestly I found it On the dull side. Really a typical Nicholas Sparks story. I actually kind of wish they would stop making adaptations of his books. It's always the same - they look nice, the cast is attractive, but the story is just flat and you… More
  Okay movie to watch, but honestly I found it On the dull side. Really a typical Nicholas Sparks story. I actually kind of wish they would stop making adaptations of his books. It's always the same - they look nice, the cast is attractive, but the story is just flat and you wish you hadn't bothered to watch it. Oh, and a death. There is always a death!

• Everett J

  
  Other than "The Notebook", I'm not a big fan of Nicolas Sparks movies. They are usually too melodramatic for me. But, "The Lucky One" is actually a good one. Zac Efron stars as Logan, a Marine whose life is saved when he finds a picture of a girl he… More
  Other than "The Notebook", I'm not a big fan of Nicolas Sparks movies. They are usually too melodramatic for me. But, "The Lucky One" is actually a good one. Zac Efron stars as Logan, a Marine whose life is saved when he finds a picture of a girl he doesn't know. The picture becomes a sort of guardian angel for him, and when he leaves the marines he sets out to find the girl. When he finds her, he begins to work with her, and they start a relationship together. Obviously there is more to it, and there are twists and turns, but I don't wanna give away everything. The acting is good, and this is really a good vehicle for Efron to show he can do mature movies. It's good to see a good child actor develop into a good adult actor, and this could certainly lead to bigger and better things. At times the movie is borderline melodramatic, but it never goes overboard. The ladies are going to really dig this, and they will dig it even more if you(if your a guy reading this) watch it with them. You'll probably find yourself pretty entertained and glad you stuck around.

• Julie B

  
  On a plane. That's my excuse.

• Nadira I

  
  An okay film, not a fan of the story at all.

• Markus R

  
  Nicholas Sparks should stop writing novels for all of our sakes. "The Lucky One" is yet another failed attempt at adapting a Sparks love story onto the big screen, as well as a lackluster directorial choice in the once promising, but now spiraling career of Scott Hicks… More
  Nicholas Sparks should stop writing novels for all of our sakes. "The Lucky One" is yet another failed attempt at adapting a Sparks love story onto the big screen, as well as a lackluster directorial choice in the once promising, but now spiraling career of Scott Hicks (Hearts in Atlantis, Shine). And did I mention that his film stars Zac Efron (17 Again, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax) adding another B list role to his filmography? Before I begin my review, I want my readership to know that I am not dumb. I know that no matter what I say, good or bad, about "The Lucky One", it will in no way deter the excitable Efron fans from wasting their money. But like so many "don't text while driving" PSA's, I will do my best to prevent the inevitable. If I can just reach that one girl (or sadly, woman) who still has a "High School Musical" poster on her bedroom wall, then this review will have not all been for nothing. Synopsis: A Marine, named Logan (Efron), fighting in Afghanistan or a place resembling such, finds a mysterious photo of a very average looking woman, (played by Taylor Schilling) in the dirt. When he goes to retrieve it, a bomb goes off behind him, killing three other soldiers. Taking this photo as a sign of good luck, he decides to keep it in his wallet for the rest of his tour, in order to avert death. No, this is not the beginning of the new "Final Destination" film, even though there is one other instance where Logan is yet again attacked, but emerges as the only survivor. Anyways, once back home (in Colorado) Logan decides that he must investigate who this mysteriously average looking woman is. It turns out that her name is Beth. It also turns out that Beth lives in Louisiana. So, such as any sane man would, he decides to walk there. Yes, walk from Colorado to Louisiana! Ok, so I haven't even broached the heart of the film (the love story) and yet anyone with half a brain reading this can already tell that "The Lucky One" was clearly setting itself up to be heavily criticized by someone like me. And don't even get me started on how barely there the conflict between Logan and Beth is. Suffice to say, "The Lucky One" is a film which could have been resolved in the first 5 minutes, by Logan just revealing to Beth the circumstances of how he came to acquire a picture of her. But, due to the fact that ALL feature length movies are over 5 minutes long, it is written into the script that Logan can't seem to find the words to tell her the truth. Talk about a stretch. Ok, so along with the plot being a mess (and very forgettable) the characters are as well. In fact, audiences (even fans of the Sparks novels) will find it extremely difficult to care about anybody in "The Lucky One". Furthermore, whenever a truly emotional scene occurred, which had the potential of reducing everyone in the theater to tears; the lack of any expositional connection only worked to reduce the audience into a shrug inducing coma. As for the acting, it's pretty much as average as it gets. Schilling, who should never again be cast as the female love interest, horribly overacts her way through this film. Well, maybe "horribly" is too harsh of a word, and I guess she was better here than she was in that awful "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1". But saying that is like saying that getting punched in the face is a better alternative to being kicked in the groin. Efron, on the other hand, is just not given anything to work with here. In the past he has shown himself to be better than this Hallmark Channel crap, and thus I am still holding on to the notion that Efron is just a good actor, making poor choices. But this notion has been getting more and more lonely with each passing film. Side Note: Do you know why there hasn't been any good Nicholas Sparks adaptations since 2004's "The Notebook" or 2002's "A Walk to Remember"? Simple. "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember" (more so "The Notebook") were the only two adaptations working with the holy trinity: a solid script, talented leads (Mandy Moore, Ryan Gosling, James Garner and Rachel McAdams) and a credible director (Nick Cassavetes and the multi-talented Adam Shankman). So, in short, Nicholas Sparks has hardly been the problem (with the exception of "The Last Song", which he co-wrote the screenplay for). The problems seemed to have arisen when Hollywood types saw a gold mine in a fan-base which would pay to see anything with the Sparks name on it and proceeded to roll films such as "Dear John", "The Last Song", "Nights in Rodanthe" (and lets add "Message in a Bottle " in there as well) off of the assembly line as quickly and haphazardly as possible; to the dismay of boyfriends everywhere. Final Thought: As bad as "The Lucky One" is, fans who have been waiting to see a more manly Efron (or Efron with a five o'clock shadow) will find teenage-like enjoyment in watching him walk, run, sit and stand around with no shirt; and an equal amount of enjoyment watching him stare longingly off into the distance (seemingly in deep thought). But, unless you fall into one of these categories, steer clear of "The Lucky One"; as if you needed me to tell you this. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

• Aaron N

  
  Beth: Why did you come here? Logan: To find you. Vanilla can be an underrated flavor. The Lucky One is a film that does everything as one would expect it to do and has little shading to really differentiate it from what one expects a romantic drama to be. It has several… More
  Beth: Why did you come here? Logan: To find you. Vanilla can be an underrated flavor. The Lucky One is a film that does everything as one would expect it to do and has little shading to really differentiate it from what one expects a romantic drama to be. It has several impossibly nice characters, one jerk, and plenty of adorable animals living in a beautiful setting, going through the motions of a story that will definitely end in one specific way. With that said, I have nothing really against any of this. It is fine for the audiences that this film is meant for (fans of romantic dramas and devotees to Nicholas Sparks books) and does not have anything clunky or poorly handled enough to really make me have any sort of ill will towards the film. Overall, it may play like a plain, vanilla-type film, but it's fine. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com

• Dann M

  
  The Lucky One is yet another Nicholas Sparks romance novel brought to the big-screen. When a photograph of an unknown woman brings luck to a Marine serving in Iraq, he seeks her out upon his return home. Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling lead the cast and have a pretty solid onscreen… More
  The Lucky One is yet another Nicholas Sparks romance novel brought to the big-screen. When a photograph of an unknown woman brings luck to a Marine serving in Iraq, he seeks her out upon his return home. Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling lead the cast and have a pretty solid onscreen chemistry that works well for the film. And the storytelling is fairly good, though it follows the usual Sparks formula. The territory may be familiar, but The Lucky One is a compelling drama that has its moments.

• Bradley W

  
  The Lucky One is another film adaption of a Nicholas Sparks novel, and by this point I have come to realize that these films are going to be as clichà (C) and predictable as possible. They will make more oh don't you worry, and sadly they will probably all be as pointless as this… More
  The Lucky One is another film adaption of a Nicholas Sparks novel, and by this point I have come to realize that these films are going to be as clichà (C) and predictable as possible. They will make more oh don't you worry, and sadly they will probably all be as pointless as this film. I have not seen a good adaption of his books since The Notebook which I enjoyed, but others like The Last Song, Dear John, and A Walk to remember have been pathetic attempts at romance films and this film joins that league. This movie is just like every single Nicholas Sparks story, just with some small changes with characters and a different scenario. You know that one movie every woman just falls head over heels for and tweets about it looking so romantic but it is actually a bad film, this is that new movie. I was not a fan of the movie for it being very predictable and overly dramatic, but it has its good parts and it was not as bad as some really bad romance films I have seen lately. The story follows U.S. Marine sergeant Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) who was serving his country overseas when he happened across a discarded photo of a beautiful woman. An inscription on the back read "Keep Safe," yet the photo revealed no clues about either the subject or her whereabouts. Upon returning home to civilian life, Logan conducts his own research and discovers that the woman's name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and that she cares for dogs at a small-town kennel. Before long, Logan manages to get a job at the kennel, and sets his sights on winning Beth's heart. But it won't be easy because Beth's past experiences have made her wary of relationships. Meanwhile, as Logan works to earn Beth's trust, a dark secret from her past threatens to derail his hope for a happy future together. The plot was definitely and almost completely what I expected it to be, a predictable romance where everything you guess will happen ends up being correct. There were no surprises, there were no new formulas being tried, there was just an empty feeling in my stomach that I had just paid money for a movie that I have seen a thousand times before. The characters are melodramatic dorks who spend half the time just trying to appeal to the female audience, while leaving the men of the audience asleep and waiting for their money on their wives and girlfriends to be put to good use. This movie almost made me cry with how many bad clichà (C)s they have in it, and itâ(TM)s almost laughable looking and how desperate they are for money that they made a film this pathetic. If you are looking for a great romance, I suggest you look elsewhere. The cast has a good group of actors, but they are destroyed by a bad script and boring characters. Zac Efron has had some decent performances in his career and some very bad ones, this movie his performance was about on the middle of that line since his boring character with no true background other than he is a nice fella, and it hurt Efrons performance. Taylor Shilling has not really been in any films that are memorable, and here she shows her potential but her incredibly clichà (C) character drags her down, just like Zac Efron. The rest of the cast was decent but like I mentioned before with detail, these characters destroyed the ensembles chances at being truly recognized. The Lucky One didn't bring anything new to the table, so it failed to entertain me and that is the main thing that film should do. The cast was decent but they were ruined by the script that could've have been saved if they had tweaked it a lot, or at least gave it some interesting characters. Zac Efron is one of the main reasons people will go see this, an honestly his career may be getting bigger but he needs to star in some better movies (with the exception of me and Orson Welles). When watching this movie, I could have left for like 20 minutes and still would have been able to understand everything, and it is ad when I a movie am that slow and uneventful. Itâ(TM)s a very boring movie, and I could have cared less what was going on during it.

• Cameron J

  
  "Did-did-did-did you see the lucky ones? Did-did-did-did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?" Yes, Zac Efron is indeed looking to be the lucky one, because where he could have gone the way of… More
  "Did-did-did-did you see the lucky ones? Did-did-did-did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?" Yes, Zac Efron is indeed looking to be the lucky one, because where he could have gone the way of Ralph Macchio and taken, like, 30 years or something to hit puberty, he's starting to show some genuine progress in looking like a real man, which isn't to say that you should get too excited, you hypocritical, raving peverts of women who have the audacity to call men pigs, because he's still prettier than Taylor Schilling. Speaking of which, you know that this film is going to be lame based on the fact that it features the chick from "Atlas Shrugged", as surely as you know that this film is going to be yet another trite recycling of corny material based on the fact that it's an adaptation of a book by Nicholas Sparks, and that its trailer features The Fray's "You Found Me". Huh, I was about to question who in the world still remembers The Fray's "You Found Me", but I opened this paragraph up with a reference to Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky", so maybe I'm not the one who should be questioning people's nostalgia. Hey, people, it had to be done, but alas, no amount of Pink Floyd can wash away the cheesiness that is jammed in my brain after this film, which is shocking, seeing as how absolutely no part in "The Wall" is even mildly cheesy, especially when it comes to "Mother", "One of My Turns", "Don't Leave Me Now", "Bring the Boys Back Home", "The Trial" and, of course, that random scream in the second verse of "Comfortably Numb". Sarcasm aside, "Comfortably Numb" is a masterpiece, and the rest of the album is pretty darn awesome, as well, as opposed to this film, which isn't quite dismal, but oh so very flaw-heavy. To go ahead and get one of the biggest problems out of the way, oh boy, this is a messily paced film if there ever was one, being considerably uneven in its structure, which ranges from slam-banged in a fashion that I will try to explain later, to considerably bloated in a fashion that may not be too tremendously serious, or at least not when you compare the bloating to the hurrying, but is still fairly serious, nonetheless, dragging things out many a crowbarred scene of filler or excess material that slows down momentum, eventually into repetition, then into monotony. The monotony that this film slips into, thanks to repetitious bloating, is rarely, if ever all-out tedious, but borders enough on tedium to really knock you out of things, though not as much as the other end of this film's jarring pacing transitions: hurrying. Hey, I must admit, this film's opening sequence, which features Zac Efron's Logan Thibault character seeing his last days on his third tour in Iraq before returning home with PTSD, is relatively decent, though it would have been better if it wasn't so laughably slam-banged, which is what you can say about oh so many other points in this film, because when this film is not gorging itself on blandly excessive material or filler, it's ever so incompetently dashing along in a way that you really do have to see to believe. The disconcerting hurrying of this film certainly exacerbates the sting of the monotony within Scott Hicks' storytelling, but it also has a tendency to do something that's even worse for a character drama: thin out development, whose depth shortcomings disconnect from the characters and story that films of this type tend to rely upon intensely. It's hard something fierce to fully bond with the leads, who are too undercooked to be all that engaging, thus the final product falls flat as a character piece, much like most every other Nicholas Sparks film, but where most of this film's predecessors featured acting that was relatively strong enough to earn some degree of your investment, this film features generally mediocre acting, whose lowest note is someone I would actually expect better from. I wouldn't say that Zac Efron has the potential to be an awesome actor, but he is better than plenty of people give him credit for, having proven his skill in plenty of films that he should know better than to be attached to, with this film being ever so surprisingly an exception, for although Efron isn't truly terrible, he's wooden, with a dry presence and underwhelming emotional range that leave him to fall flat as the lead. If Efron's shortcomings hurt the selling of nothing else, its his and Taylor Schilling's chemistry, which is so key in a film of this type, but doesn't really gel, thanks to onscreen hiccups and, of course, writing hiccups, or at least mere cheesiness. Now, you'd be hard pressed to find an adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks film that isn't cheesy, but that doesn't make cheesiness in these films any less bothersome, as this film further proves with its soundtrack, alone, turning in many an indie diddy that is not simply painfully corny, but more of a challenge to listen to than this film's dialogue, which is saying something, for although Will Fetters' interpretation of Nick Sparks' dialogue tastes stands to be worse, low notes in dialogue range from mediocre to near-laughable, calling your attention more toward the cheesiest writing aspect to this film: histrionics. This writing still isn't quite soap opera-grade with its melodrama, but we are arguably looking at some of your more over-the-top Sparksisms with this "effort" (Oh man, may I be struck down if Zac Efron's Logan Thibault character doesn't seriously deliver a big twist speech to Taylor Schilling's Beth Green character with his back turned, staring off into the night), which even goes so far as to thin out character layers to a considerable point that robs characterization of much genuineness, particularly when it comes to Jay R. Ferguson's Keith Clayton character, who is borderline, if not decidedly cartoonish as the unsubtly handled antagonist or, if you will, component to the laughable dramatic reinforcements that this film tries way too desperately to establish. Tonal unevenness is certainly less recurring and, of course, intense as unevenness in pacing, but make no mistake, this film will occasionally take an awkward atomspheric turn out of relative lightness into a kind of intensity that may be mighty ineffective, but still makes its share of inorganic stands, which would have stood a chance of working if its being way too blasted forced, because if there is a conflict to be found in this film, it's very much manufactured, defying realism, if not blowing certain very light, if at all dramatic aspects quite a ways out of proportions, until what you end up with are grating theatrics that try to ignite intrigue, but to no avail. Dramatically, this film is a total mess, struggling so hard to keep juice up that it ends up crafting a considerably farfetched story that, I must admit, almost needs manufactured conflicts, because when this film isn't melodramatizing everything, well, then it's doing nothing at all. I'm not gonna lie, there are a few beats to the this "story" concept that hold some degree of potential, enough so for the film to have its ambitious moments that deliver a small drop of good old-fashioned charm of desperation, but on the whole, this plot is, not necessarily thin, but translucent, meandering along aimlessly, with little in the way of direction, even less in the way of intrigue and very much in the way of genericism. Films with plots this thin and trite tend to have the "good fortune", if you will, of being too bland to be bad, but in this case, we're looking at a film that ostensibly tries, and that only emphasizes the final product's shortcomings, of which, there are oh so many. If the film isn't lamely mediocre, it's frustratingly incompetent, no matter how much it drenches itself in obnoxious overambition, and such an unflattering formula nudges the film outside of the middling realm of mediocrity and right into the bleak waters of poorness, for although this film borders on merely forgettable, when it's all said and done, its impressions are primarily negative ones that you just can't scrub out, thus making for a final product that may be bad by a little more than a hair, but is pretty bad, nonetheless. Overall, there are moments of slightly charming ambition to this project, but on the whole, it's a mess that often bloats itself out with repetition and excess material when it's not jarringly its way into exhausting rushing that thins out exposition and joins the mediocre or, in the case of leading man Zac Efron, just plain weak acting, and undercooked characterization in distancing you from the characters, whose underwhelmingness in turn joins the laughably histrionic, when not boringly thin, and consistently trite "plot" in crafting the considerable blandness that is intensely stressed enough by incompetence and overambition to make "The Lucky One" a serious misfire that is sometimes simply mediocre, but generally too bad to be even mildly worthy of your time. 1.75/5 - Poor

• Sol C

  
  Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling's performances make the film worth checking out. They have a great on screen chemistry. It is great seeing Zac branch out acting wise. However, they both need a better story than this one. The film feels unbalanced and uneven. I felt like I was… More
  Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling's performances make the film worth checking out. They have a great on screen chemistry. It is great seeing Zac branch out acting wise. However, they both need a better story than this one. The film feels unbalanced and uneven. I felt like I was watching 2 films meshed up into one. The film reminded me of movies like The Majestic starring Jim Carrey and A Walk in the Clouds starring Keanu Reeves. Both those films were better than this one. The pacing was also off. Some scenes were a little too slow. I also found the film predictable.

• Dannielle A

  
  Oh geez, why do I keep subjecting myself to failed Nicholas Sparks attempts? Because I am hoping for another Notebook or Walk to Remember that will never come. Taylor Schilling gave us an incredible sob fest in the garden. Great acting. I was hoping that would be the last melodramatic… More
  Oh geez, why do I keep subjecting myself to failed Nicholas Sparks attempts? Because I am hoping for another Notebook or Walk to Remember that will never come. Taylor Schilling gave us an incredible sob fest in the garden. Great acting. I was hoping that would be the last melodramatic part but I hoped too soon. (With Sparks films, there is always more melodrama.) It started out really great until the two main characters had premarital sex and then the rest of the movie went downhill as the ending seemed to be a very heavy-handed formulaic script where I could pretty much guess what happened next... right down the melodramatic storm and subsequent death. WHY Nicholas Sparks, why? PLEASE give us something more.

• Panta O

  
  After watching Monty Python's The Meaning of Life together, I decided that is the time to treat my wife with a romantic drama and I choose this one after recommendation from a RT friend as an excellent one... I have to say that I was surprised that she liked The Meaning of Life,… More
  After watching Monty Python's The Meaning of Life together, I decided that is the time to treat my wife with a romantic drama and I choose this one after recommendation from a RT friend as an excellent one... I have to say that I was surprised that she liked The Meaning of Life, and even more surprised that we agree on this one - it is something people shouldn't waste time on! She actually managed 30 minutes and was wondering how I could last to the end!? But, that's me... I'll give any movie a chance to satisfy me any possible way. The problem is that this one had nothing I could recall as satisfying! The Lucky One is directed by Scott Hicks and it is an adaptation of the 2008 novel of the same name, by Nicholas Sparks... Now, Sparks is well known to people who watch these movies, but not a big name for me, and I have to say that I'll be sure from now on to stay away from any movie connected to his name! Everything in this movie felt fake - for some reason not one second I could be drawn in the story and say - "Oh... this remind me of..." or "This is possible...". My reaction was always "C'mon... I had enough of this b..s..." or around those lines. I had a chance believing more an old worn out Thai "working girl" that I am the love of her life than in anything said in this screenplay. Stars Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, and Blythe Danner - well, what to say there... Zac had at least some kind of performance with his dumb half stoned soldier look and "pause" and "play" acting, others should go back to acting schools (Taylor Schilling could get few tips from the "old working girl"). Do not waste a minute on this one... and I bet my RT friend had few beers and the hottest looking chick next to him in the cinema before watching (or whatever he was doing in the dark corner) and recommending this syrupy nonsense.

• Burger S

  
  Just watch The Notebook.

• Jeff B

  
  Unlucky in everything but smarm, Zac Efron's harmless latest is One kitsch away from sitting in a Hallmark card rack. Nicholas Sparks is the Thomas Kincaid of the written word-all fuss, no muss. Time (A Walk to Remember) and time (The Notebook) and time again (Dear John), his… More
  Unlucky in everything but smarm, Zac Efron's harmless latest is One kitsch away from sitting in a Hallmark card rack. Nicholas Sparks is the Thomas Kincaid of the written word-all fuss, no muss. Time (A Walk to Remember) and time (The Notebook) and time again (Dear John), his treacly novels have become treacly three hanky weepers. They're fluff, yes, but they're likable fluff with great hooks for hopelessly romantic moviegoers. Still, there's no denying that the scripts are chocked full of contrivance, predictability, and arch antagonists, regardless of the audience's romanticism. With lines like "You should be kissed--every day, every hour, every minute," the luck on anything - however likable - will eventually and inevitably run out. In this PG-13-rated romantic drama, a U.S. Marine sergeant (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq to search out the woman (Schilling) whose picture kept him alive through the fighting. Efron has charisma. Charisma, however, doesn't always translate to acting greatness. He stands, delivers his lines, and looks pretty under Scott Hicks's very capable direction. Regardless, newcomer Schilling is the movie's true standout. Hopefully, John Q. Moviegoer will be seeing a lot more from her in the future, albeit not in movies that are so cloying. As for the rest, Bythe Danner hands out One-to-Grow-Ons as the wise and wisecracking grandmother, Jay R. Ferguson sneers his way through his role as the heavy (a mustache-twirling cop without a mustache) and the audience counts itself lucky to walk away with their sanity intact. Bottom line: Luck of the drool.

• Christopher H

  
  "The Lucky One" is your run-of-the-mill Nicholas Sparks drama, no more, no less. What Zac Efron lacks in his stoic representation of a man returning from war, Taylor Schilling makes up for with her enthusiastic personality and constant inquisitive demeanor. Hitting the same… More
  "The Lucky One" is your run-of-the-mill Nicholas Sparks drama, no more, no less. What Zac Efron lacks in his stoic representation of a man returning from war, Taylor Schilling makes up for with her enthusiastic personality and constant inquisitive demeanor. Hitting the same marks as almost all romantic dramas, it doesn't go quite as dark and depressing as most of Sparks' previous endeavors, yet still has the same basic and predictable formula.

• Philip P

  
  I know it is nothing to bypass a Nicholas Sparks adaptation at this point due to the fact we can all smell where the story is going a mile away. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm against watching them as they usually feature good enough actors to raise the caliber above… More
  I know it is nothing to bypass a Nicholas Sparks adaptation at this point due to the fact we can all smell where the story is going a mile away. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm against watching them as they usually feature good enough actors to raise the caliber above Hallmark brand entertainment and at the very least we can always count on the photography being gorgeous. Both of these are easily applied to the latest in Sparks long line of sappy love stories that always consist of the same elements with only slightly different circumstances surrounding them. Here, the story follows a retired Marine (Zac Efron) who feels his saving grace after three tours in Iraq is a picture he found that saved him from a blast that killed some of his friends. Naturally the picture is of a lovely young woman who Efron's Logan decides to seek out and thank. And naturally, there is going to be more to it than that. The cliches are laid on thicker than syrup on a batch of southern pancakes but to the films credit it still pulls you in just far enough to get you wrapped up in the drama of a boy pining for a girl who wants nothing to do with him only to be swept off her feet. Throw in a cute kid, some baby daddy drama and a drunk Blythe Danner as the matriarch who is all knowing and you have a perfectly plain, yet perfectly entertaining film. There is certainly nothing groundbreaking going on here, but nobody expects that and when I can watch a film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel and be the least bit surprised at how much better it was than I expected, well, it deserves some kind of credit for that.

• Andreia C

  
  A slow paced romantic movie. Not that great. Didn't sense much chemistry between Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling. The performances weren't that great and I didn't really cared if they would end up together, because honestly they didn't seem that in love. Overall,… More
  A slow paced romantic movie. Not that great. Didn't sense much chemistry between Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling. The performances weren't that great and I didn't really cared if they would end up together, because honestly they didn't seem that in love. Overall, watchable but boring.

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