The Lucky One

Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Bylthe Danner
Directed by: Scott Hicks (“Shine,” “No Reservations”)
Written by: Will Fetters (“Remember Me”)

This movie is not for me. I’m a man in my early 30s and, as such, the entire summer movie season is targeted toward me. But this movie, “The Lucky One,” is one of those movies I’m only supposed to see on a date, one that I’m supposed to suffer through for the sake of my girlfriend* having a good cry while basking in the syrupy romance oozing from the screen. And that’s okay. In theaters over the next couple of months, I’ll be able to watch Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Batman, and the entirety of G.I. Joe kick all sorts of super-powered ass. I can take one for the team, you know?

“The Lucky One” is based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, the author responsible for “The Notebook” and “A Walk to Remember.” Zac Efron (“17 Again”) stars as Logan Thibault, a U.S. Marine stationed in Iraq. In the aftermath of an attack, Logan finds a picture of a smiling woman (Taylor Schilling) half-buried in the rubble. After picking up the picture to examine it, a rocket screams from the sky and explodes in the exact spot he was standing moments before. Convinced the picture saved his life, it becomes his new good luck charm. Months later, after his tour ends, Logan learns the woman’s name is Beth and shows up at her door. However, instead of revealing his true intentions, Logan decides to keep secret his discovery of the photograph that kept him safe.

Directed by Academy Award-nominee Scott Hicks (“Shine”), “The Lucky One” is more of the same from the Nicholas Sparks romantic drama factory. The star-crossed couple, the tow-headed youngster, and the hot-headed ex-husband are all as familiar as a well-worn shoe, as is the chunk of Louisiana they inhabit, where it’s always nearly dusk and there are an awful lot of quaint old bridges. Efron, best known for his singing and dancing in Disney’s “High School Musical” series, never deviates from a stilted, wooden stoicism, while relative unknown Schilling (“Atlas Shrugged – Part 1”) does fine as a single mother reluctantly falling for a mysterious stranger who somehow managed to walk from Colorado to Louisiana and still end up looking like Zac Efron instead of a filthy lunatic. And despite actually being 69 years old, Blythe Danner oddly feels too young to be playing the grandmother of a woman in her 20s.

Some poor editing proves to be a distraction from time to time, and the beginning of the film feels too rushed, leaving the title rather puzzling as a result. But I suspect these concerns will only be expressed by the men in the audience, and will likely be quickly shushed away by smitten wives and girlfriends.

*My girlfriend doesn’t actually like movies like this.