The Lucky One

The Lucky One is a romantic drama starring Zac Efron. Now, for those people still reading…..Based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same name (I may have lost more people here as well) Efron stars as Logan Thibault, (where does Sparks get these monikers from?) a US Marine (suspend disbelief people, this is a film, remember) who narrowly escapes death in Iraq when he is distracted by a picture of a pretty girly (Taylor Schilling) lying on the ground. Returning from his tour Thibault suffers from survivor’s guilt and decides to track down said woman in the picture who “saved” him. Though I’ve never read any of his novels I’ve seen plenty of films based on Sparks’ output and they’re all pretty formulaic. This is certainly no different, though it does have a bit more of an edge to it than previous productions. This is probably helped by having Scott Hicks behind the camera, but he appears to be a bit rusty (this is his first film in three years and only first fifth in the last sixteen) as to what works and what doesn’t and it feels a long time since his Shine calling card. As for Efron, his acting is bizarre here. Though he’s obviously trying to rid himself of his High School Musical background his performance as Thibault is so downplayed that he comes across as a wooden marionette suffering from monologism. Any skills he showed in the (albeit less serious) Me and Orson Welles are no-where to be seen. Blythe Danner is good though as the (kindly) interfering mother and gives a performance that the film doesn’t really deserve. So, plenty of schmaltz, plenty of cliché’s, plenty for Sparks’ lovers to enjoy. Though it’s more likely to be endurance rather than enjoyment for most.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
If you’re a Sparks (wo)man then this is everything you’d expect. Knock a mark off though if you like your screenplays a little broader. Rating: 6/10.