At this point, it's become way too easy to track the formulaic path of any Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Vaguely sketched characters lust for love in the midst of barely defined, supposedly trying circumstances, with very little real drama to be found. Those looking for sexual sizzle tend to walk away hot, bothered, and unfulfilled. Doesn't matter which no-name director takes the helm, the creative results are the same and roughly the same amount of people show up.
Ironic that Sparks' cookie cutter, conveyor belt brand of romance so frequently revolves around the idea of destiny and fate. The Lucky One stars Zac Efron as Marine Sgt. Logan Thibault, the luckiest soldier serving in Iraq after finding the photo of a mysterious blond beauty buried in the sand. The image serves as his good luck charm, surviving many an altercation that left his squad mates dead. They apparently weren't smart enough to carry photos of hot chicks in their back pockets. They're a real life saver.
Discharged, Logan sets out to find the woman he thinks saved his life. After a disastrous stop at home where his PTSD is flared by a pair of rambunctious nephews, he pulls a Forrest Gump and hoofs it(along with his "Awww" inspiring doggie pal) from Colorado to idyllic, unnaturally sparkling North Carolina, where he meets Beth(Taylor Schilling), the woman from the photo and owner of rundown dog kennel. After the prerequisite misunderstanding and Logan's unexplained inability to reveal the truth, he winds up scooping puppy poop for Beth and her wise old grandmother(the excellent Blythe Danner).
Sparks typically ladles on the melodrama like thick gravy. Beth has a precocious 7-year old son who bonds with Logan over chess and playing the violin. She also has a lunk-headed jerk of an ex-husband(Jay R. Ferguson), the town sheriff's deputy who uses his law enforcement and legal connections to make her virtually untouchable to the opposite sex. Did we mention that her grandma is sick, and that her parents died while she was young? The only thing that could make it worse is if she were to fall in love with a studly stranger and invoke the violent ire of her ex-hubby. Oh..wait, that's exactly what happens.
If there is a Michael Bay of romance films, Nicholas Sparks has proven time and time again that he is it. He nails some of the bigger emotional moments, especially as Logan and Beth's courtship leads to a surprisingly steamy(for a Sparks film, anyway) shower scene. However, Sparks fails in all of the small details that make a story feel complete. Beth's ex is cartoonishly evil, reminiscent of the bullies you'd see in 80s teen comedies. As usual there are very few real stakes involved, and the resolution is never in doubt even for a moment. One thing in Sparks' favor is that he tweaks the inevitable death of a major character, veering away from his norm and raining hell on the unfortunate victim in a way that was the most unexpected aspect of the story.
The only thing that saves the film from total disaster are strong performances by Efron, Schilling, and Danner. For Efron, he's in over his head when trying to act like a hardened soldier, his laughable post-traumatic rages getting the film off to a rocky start it struggles to overcome. He improves later on, showing a real growth as an actor and overcoming a weak kneed script. Sparks novels, and movies for that matter, target the female audience but more often than not feature poorly realized women characters and worse performances. Schilling is a welcome breath of fresh air, equal parts beauty and strength, giving Beth a dignity we don't get to see often enough.
The Notebook is always cited as the best of his adaptations, and that is true to some extent because of its mesmerizing stars. However, a look back at it reveals that Sparks was merely setting the stage for a career of weak plots and poorly defined, sappy characters. The Lucky One continues that trend, appealing only to the Sparks converted looking for an easy, comfortable, love story.
