The Lucky Ones poster & wallpaper

Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, Michael Pena

After suffering an injury during a routine patrol, hardened sergeant TK Poole (Peña) is granted a one-month leave to visit his fiancé. However, when an unexpected blackout cancels all flights out of ...( read more  read more... )New York, TK agrees to share a ride to Pittsburgh with two similarly stranded servicemen, Cheever (Robbins), an older family man who longs to return to his wife in St. Louis, and Colee (McAdams), a naive private who’s pinned her hopes on connecting with a dead fellow soldier’s family. What begins as a short trip unexpectedly evolves into a longer journey. Forced to grapple with old relationships, broken hopes and a country divided over the war, TK, Cheever and Colee discover that home is not quite what they remembered and that the unlikely companionship they’ve found might be what matters the most.

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62% liked it

10,021 ratings

Critics

35% liked it

68 critics

R, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Neil Burger

Release Date: September 26, 2008

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DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (380)

  • rebvodka042099
    February 13, 2009
    rebvodka042099
    I always rate road movies a lot more than they are worth, because of my genuine passion with the genre, but I'm staying true to this one.

    The performances are great. Of course, there are no words for one to describe Tim Robbins -the guy has moved to a place where you can't judge...( read more) him anymore because he leaves no room for judgment. I wasn't too crazy about Michael Pena, who otherwise has given some performances in the past worth mentioning. The true revelation here was Rachel McAdams whose acting skills I always doubted. But the protagonistic trio does a great job, they compliment and complete each other - their chemistry is highly authentic.

    The storyline isn't at all original and the theme isn't either. It lacks depth at points and it could have been better. But it is just what you need for an above-mediocre road movie, some laughs and a good time.
  • mrpopcorn
    February 7, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "Sometimes losing your way home means finding yourself"

    The story revolves around three soldiers --Colee, TK and Cheever -- who return from the Iraq War after suffering injuries and learn that life has moved on without them. They end up on an unexpected road trip across...( read more) the U.S., with Colee on a mission to bring her boyfriend's guitar back to his family because he saved her life, TK seeking confidence to face his wife after a shrapnel injury that threatens his sexual function and middle-aged Cheever planning to hit the casinos in a desperate effort to pay for his son's college tuition.

    REVIEW
    Neil Burger's offbeat, quirky, dramatic movie is a triumph. It succeeds in all the aspects, from the technical parts to the acting, I can't find a single negative thing about it. Burger doesn't dilly-dally around, he went straight to the point of his subject, giving a fair amount of time for each of the three characters (McAdams, Pena and Robbins) to develop and eventually you can't help but really like them...a lot. Especially McAdams but more on that later. The script is tightly wound, the chemistry between the three protagonists doesn't seem forced, the movie doesn't force you to like them the moment the movie starts but instead, these colorful characters will gradually grow on you.

    Tim Robbins, one of my favorite actors, doesn't dissapoint. 2008, I have seen him in two movies the other one being The City of Ember. And as long as a movie has Tim Robbins in it, I'm sold. That's why I watched the movie in the first place. Michael Pena, another great guy, gives off a good vibe towards the movie and once you know what's been bothering his character, you can't help but laugh at how one-sided and ridiculous his problem is. Pena gives one of his greatest performance on screen. And of course, the belle of the ball, the star of the show, Rachel McAdams gives a quirky, zesty and joyful performance as a loveable Southerner and I can't help but be reminded of another quirky, zesty and joyful character, Amelie. She just keeps the laughs rolling in and steal every scene she's in. She gives the character such depth that one might come off as one dimensional had it been portrayed by a lesser talent. Definitely an underrated performance for 2008.

    Highly recommended.
  • puffchunk
    February 4, 2009
    puffchunk
    I love movies with small casts that do nothing but build up fun characters. This movie pulls it off well, and has a magnificent ending. So far I'd say this is my favorite performance by Rachel McAdams. Her character is so likable, and on top of that she looks so ridiculously g...( read more)ood that the movie could suck and you wouldn't mind.
  • bort16
    January 22, 2009
    bort16
    Here's a fact: movies about the current war in Iraq have done about as well as... well, the current war in Iraq. To be fair, none of them - that I've seen - have really been all that great for starters. Even Paul Haggis and Tommy Lee Jones' In the Valley of Elah did not manage we...( read more)ll financially, though it did manage to get half decent reception from critics. Understandably most of the films have been pretty heavy handed, and just as understandably, audiences have been satiating their heavy handed tastes with other, less controversial and less personal subjects. But then comes along The Lucky Ones, starring Tim Robbins, Michael Pena, and Rachael McAdams. The film is about 3 soldiers returning home from Iraq; two on leave for 30 days, the other out for good. Instead of sticking to the usual downbeat tones of other Iraq films, it's more of a hopeful charmer, and quite a funny one too. It's really more of a good old fashioned American road movie with soldiers than a war movie. But that didn't really stop people from not going. The film got only limited releases through 2008 despite gaining fans at the various festivals it played at along the way. Instead now it'll be coming out on dvd soon.
    Three soldiers return home from Iraq after meeting each other on the plane ride. When they arrive on American soil to catch their connecting flights, they discover that the airport is backed up solid due to a black out. Rather than wait around, Cheaver (Robbins) decides he's close enough to his home and family in St. Louis to rent a car and drive home. TK and Colee (Pena and McAdams) decide they should join him. They're both heading to Las Vegas, for very different reasons, and figure they can probably make the drive and catch a flight out of St. Louis by the time they would here.
    Colee is heading to Vegas to return her boyfriend's vintage guitar to his family. He died in the war, saving her apparently. TK is heading to Vegas for some professional help before he meets up with his fiance. Hookers and strippers? Colee inquires. Kind of, but not for the usual reasons. You see, they all have wounds, but some more sensitive than the others. Cheaver injured his back in a not so heroic or brave way, but he's more amused and relieved about it than embarrassed so reveals the story openly. Colee's been shot in the leg, and sports an unhealed wound and a limp. TK gets the best of both their worlds: he's been wounded by shrapnel in a not so public area. Now, as he says, it doesn't work right. He's going to Vegas to meet with some "professionals" to test his own little soldier out. "I can't go back to my fiance without knowing it works, we'd have nothing to talk about!" A strange predicament for two people about to be married.
    Cheaver, being the oldest in his 40s, is usually something of a father figure to the younger TK and Colee. On their trip those two first bicker before becoming closer. Colee openly talks about her late ex, and tells the tales he told her of robbing a Casino in Vegas to pay off his loan shark debts. TK responds with coldness and ridicules the dead man for his character. It results, inevitably in having to pull over and the keys inevitably being locked in the car.
    The Lucky One's certainly doesn't go anywhere we really don't expect it to, but the paths it takes to get there aren't necessarily always the one's we expect. For example, given how quickly the tri arrive in St. Louis, it's obvious something will have to happen to keep it going. It's no big surprise to reveal that his wife wants a divorce, though she apparently is not cheating on him. Meanwhile their son breaks the big news that he got into Stanford, but needs 20 grand to secure his spot. So Cheaver decides he'll go to visit his brother or maybe even go to Vegas and win the money. That guitar Colee carries around is actually even worth 20 grand, though he doesn't want it, and she has to give it to her dead boyfriends family. She wants to give it to him but obviously knows she can't, although what she knows about her dead boyfriend seems to be less and less as time goes on.
    The movie is populated with the usual oddball characters and chance encounters you find on cross country road trips, or in cross country road trip movies. There's a stop over at a church where they meet a very wealthy parishioner who invites them to a party, where among other things they encounter a young man against the war, another man who thinks after meeting the trio there's a good reason why they're losing the war, and a horny wife with the hots for the old Cheaver. Elsewhere they encounter the usual road side bars and motels, traveling sex workers and a rogue Tornado. And of course, along the way each confronts their own issues and demons.
    The Lucky Ones is a funny and winning little movie. It's above all else a very human movie. The characters are what makes it succeed, not it's story. All three leads give wonderful and sincere performances, particularly McAdams as Colee. She's naive but not unintelligent, and tough but still vulnerable.
    What could have been a downer filled with cheap shots and cheap tactics is instead smart and even handed, and above all respectful. That's not to say that it's necessarily a "safe" movie - but then again a movie that's best described as a road comedy about Iraq Veterans probably cannot be. It's above all else a very human movie. The characters are what makes it succeed, not it's story. All three leads give wonderful and sincere performances, particularly McAdams as Colee. She's naive but not unintelligent, and tough but still vulnerable. The movie ends as the soldiers' leave expires and they must return. At least for now they've been the lucky ones. Here's to hoping they stayed lucky.
  • MovieGeek13
    September 12, 2008
    MovieGeek13
    Opens Sept. 26. Gala world premiere from TIFF.
    Rachel McAdams gives a performance that should earn her an Oscar nomination. This road movie is a subtle, oddly funny drama that shows how three American soldiers try to re-integrate themselves into normal American life.
    Each ch...( read more)aracter has been affected by their experiences in the Iraq War, and what makes this film so emotionally touching is how the characters stick by each other, much like they probably would have in combat.
  • citawijaya
    November 22, 2009
    citawijaya
    It's simple and funny.. all the casts are likable, love this movie.
  • LYNNWOODS04
    November 6, 2009
    LYNNWOODS04
    Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, Michael Pena

    After suffering an injury during a routine patrol, hardened sergeant TK Poole (Peña) is granted a one-month leave to visit his fiancé. However, when an unexpected blackout cancels all flights out of New York, TK agrees to share a rid...( read more)e to Pittsburgh with two similarly stranded servicemen, Cheever (Robbins), an older family man who longs to return to his wife in St. Louis, and Colee (McAdams), a naive private who?s pinned her hopes on connecting with a dead fellow soldier?s family. What begins as a short trip unexpectedly evolves into a longer journey. Forced to grapple with old relationships, broken hopes and a country divided over the war, TK, Cheever and Colee discover that home is not quite what they remembered and that the unlikely companionship.

    -Really liked this film a lot. Rachel McAdams was so good in this movie. Tim Robbins.. I mean he is one of the best actors out there. He was amazing as always. Really liked Michael Pena. I haven't seen him in many films and thought he was great. The acting, the script, all of it was great. It was funny, sad, and just really good. I would call this a dramedy. Really good watch.
  • 76Majikat
    October 14, 2009
    76Majikat
    Rec by Carol & Larry
  • homien9
    October 2, 2009
    homien9
    it was such a funny movie. i wish all the troops come home safe. i wish this war would be over.
  • anci83
    September 15, 2009
    anci83
    Add a review (optional)...

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Critic Reviews

September 26, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

This is not the worst of the Iraq-themed movies of the past few years, and it's possibly the best acted of any of them. But you wish the bonding of these three people wasn't diluted by the trite scena... full review

September 26, 2008
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Cheap, ignorant, tone-deaf and condescending. full review

September 25, 2008
Bob Mondello, NPR.org

Director Neil Burger keeps things light, and the actors are more than engaging. ... But there's something centrally pat and predictable about the coincidence-laden story. full review

September 25, 2008
Bob Mondello, NPR

Director Neil Burger keeps things light, and the actors are more than engaging. ... But there's something centrally pat and predictable about the coincidence-laden story. full review

September 25, 2008
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

If a couple of the plot devices seem contrived, The Lucky Ones makes up for them with sharp, heartfelt performances, and a deceptively easygoing narrative style. full review

September 25, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This formula is fraught with pitfalls, but the characters and the actors redeem it with a surprising emotional impact. full review

September 21, 2008
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Sometimes, however, empty, contrived fantasies are just empty, contrived fantasies, as is certainly the case with this embarrassingly phony cross between Grace Is Gone, Home of the Brave and, believe ... full review

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