The Lucky One

The Lucky One (Rated PG-13)

• Starring Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner, Riley Thomas Stewart, Jay R. Ferguson
• Directed by Scott Hicks
• Plot: After finding a picture of an unknown woman that he credits with saving his life, a soldier travels to Louisiana to find her and thank her.

I’m the first to admit that I am not the target audience for this film, even though if you ram a bamboo shoot up my fingernail, I’ll admit I cried at “The Notebook.”  This is another sappy romance by Nicholas Sparks who has turned his already successful writing career into a teen girl movie factory.  Insert shirtless hunky guy and maybe a little rain.  Presto!

Zac Efron plays Logan Thibault, a Marine serving his third tour of duty in Iraq.  After he finds a photo of a mysterious young woman (Schilling), he makes it his good luck charm.  After he gets home, he finds out her name and ends up on the door step of her family-run dog kennel in Louisiana.  It turns out her name is Beth.  She’s a single mom, and the picture belonged to her brother who was killed in action.  Unable to find the words to thank her, he ends up working there and romance soon follows.

All of the actors do a decent enough job with their performances.  Efron and Schilling have good chemistry.  Unfortunately, the story doesn’t ever raise the characters beyond the cliché level, particularly Ferguson’s role as Beth’s ex and the local sheriff.

The storyline never really rises above that of your typical daytime melodrama, but I’ve sat through worse movies. 

In the end, it’s your typical formulaic Nicholas Sparks film.  If that’s your cup of tea, then “The Lucky One” shouldn’t disappoint.