Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Since 2004, The Notebook has been labelled the default option for romantic flicks and spread a disease of novel-turned-films into Hollywood.
Many would argue that there are some books that are just begging to be made into movies and it seems like author Nicholas Sparks is making the most of this trend.
It started with Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, The Last Song and now The Lucky One. And Scott Hicks, known for Shine, directs this romantic film into the heart of every teenage girl.
A dark and traumatised Zac Efron plays Logan Thibault, a marine with three tours of duty under his belt.
While in Iraq, he discovers a photograph of a young blonde woman and walks over to pick it up. As he does, an explosion hits the area where he would’ve been standing and kills most of his unit.
Logan comes to believe that the picture saved his life and considers the woman his lucky charm. He notices the inscription ‘Keep Safe’ on the back and tries to track down the owner of the picture but he has no luck.
He returns back home and finds it difficult to adjust to everyday life. With limited evidence, he finds Beth, the woman in the photograph and travels to Louisiana where she is running a kennel with her grandmother, Ellie, and her seven-year-old son, Ben.
Logan cannot summon the courage to explain why he is there, yet Beth assumes he’s looking for a job. Ellie hires him, despite Beth’s unease, however, it is obvious that she will soon melt to the ex-marine’s charm.
Moreover, the obvious cliché of Ben needing a good father figure is apparent, as Beth’s sociopath ex-husband, Keith, is clearly not living up to the status.
If you can’t see where this is going I highly recommend this film to you.
The Lucky One is sappy and by no means will ever replace The Notebook, but I think any movie starring a shirtless Efron is worth watching to some extent. He comes across as the perfect man, a little too perfect – handsome, considerate, good with kids, tolerant and can quote Dr Seuss.
The movie is sentimental and entirely predictable.
Ten minutes in and you will be able to see the plot unfolding miles away but will continue watching, waiting for the first kiss, the first fight and the happily-ever-after ending.
Surprisingly, it was never excessively mushy but the overused cinematography to showcase the actor’s emotions through scenes of sunshine and thunder irritated me. But then again, despite their chaotic and drama-filled lives, the characters remain dull and insincere, so I guess the reinforcement was needed.
The teenager in me wanted to love this movie, solely because of Efron and his piercing blue eyes, but I couldn’t quite get there.
‘It’s like finding an angel in hell’, as Efron so conveniently mentioned in the film. His acting has come a long way since High School Musical, moving away from his squeaky clean teen image, but still doesn’t come close to capturing the magic that Ryan Gosling portrayed in The Notebook – but that’s OK, as long as he stays perfectly good-looking.
The Lucky One just needed to stop trying so hard to be tear-jerking. But if you’re not looking for a momentous film, then you’re in for a lucky treat.
l Showing in Cineco and Seef II
