Film Review: ‘The Lucky One’ Suffers From Emotionally Constipated Performances

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CHICAGO – I’m of two minds about the work of Nicholas Sparks. On one hand, I admire his sensitive portrayals of good-hearted people, particularly young lovers, which serve as comfort food for teenagers overwhelmed by peer pressure. On the other hand, I’m also the guy who said the following about his last book-to-screen adaptation, “The Last Song”: “You may need a lump in your head before you can get one in your throat.”

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Like any successful author, Sparks knows his target audience extremely well. Yet the rigidity of his reliable formula has become so predictable and repetitive that it threatens to bore even his most ardent fans. I saw “The Lucky One” in a theater filled with Sparks fans, and I was surprised by the number of derisive laughs that it inspired. That reaction starkly contrasted with the simultaneous sniffle that I heard erupt from a packed house of watery eyed teens during a screening of “A Walk to Remember” a decade ago.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “The Lucky One” in our reviews section.

In many ways, “The Lucky One” is a retread of the first Sparks picture, “Message in a Bottle.” Both films center on would-be soul mates who are brought together by a series of tidy coincidences. One of them harbors a secret that is left unrevealed until the third act, thus providing a false crisis to act as an overture for the real crisis, which is typically in the form of a wildly melodramatic climax. This sort of material sinks or swims on the depth of its performances, and “Lucky One” is fatally marred by the maddening hollowness of its leading man. In interviews, Zac Efron has hinted at his frustration that his character, a nobel Marine named Logan, is a touch too perfect to be believable. Indeed, Logan is the sort of honorable bore that has recently populated Sparks’ novels, allowing underachieving actors an excuse to give an empty performance. Like Channing Tatum, Efron’s idea of dramatic acting consists of glazed-over eyes and endless brooding stares. On the few occasions when Efron is required to emote, either his face is shrouded in shadow or his line delivery is awkwardly clipped by abrupt editing. But like Taylor Lautner, Efron doesn’t need acting chops to win the hearts and other organs of swooning moviegoers. Thanks to all the physical training that money can buy, Efron’s newly beefed-up, shirtless bod earns a number of lingering close-ups, functioning as the sort of objectified eye candy normally supplied by women in Michael Bay blockbusters.

Continue reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “The Lucky One” review.

TAYLOR SCHILLING as Beth and ZAC EFRON as Logan in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ romantic drama THE LUCKY ONE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Photo credit: Alan Markfield