Recent Movie - Review

The Lucky One

Synopsis:  Based on Nicholas Sparks' bestseller The Lucky One, Zac Efron ("17 Again," "Charlie St. Cloud") stars alongside Taylor Schilling (TV's "Mercy") and Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents" franchise) in this romantic drama directed by Academy Award®-nominated writer/director Scott Hicks ("Shine," "No Reservations").
U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn't even know. Learning her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm
Steam Level:  Oh! My!

My Thoughts:  Oh! My!  My job share partner bid for another job at the same place a couple of weeks ago and she got it.  So I had to decide whether to go back full time or see if I could find someone else to job share with.  Since I went part time, things have changed quite a bit.  First of all, when I did go part time I lost all benefits, sick days, vacation time etc.  Since I was diagnosed with diabetes, my expenses have gone up.  I'm having to take more meds (for the time being anyway) I joined a gym and have myself a personal trainer.  On top of that, I seem to have misplaced my glasses and since it's been more than a few years since I had my eyes checked, it's most definitely time for a new pair.  All of this is costing money I'm not making anymore so I decided to go back full time.  I'm much healthier now, have more stamina and more endurance and all this exercise is starting to have a very strange effect on me, in a good way.  I am able to handle stress much better.  The same kind of thing that would drive me batty a few short months ago doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  I start back full time on Monday.

So what, you are wondering, does any of this have to do with the movie The Lucky One???  Well, I've kind of been wanting to see this movie, but every since Message in a Bottle, I've been gun shy of Nicholas Sparks movies.  But I was talking to a coworker today who went to see the movie on Monday.  I asked her, not exactly how it ended, but did it have a happy ending.  She laughed and said yes.  Tomorrow is my last mid-week day off so at the last minute, I decided to go to the show after my workout tonight.  The theatre is nice and close, the timing of when the movie would start vs the time I would finish with my trainer was perfect and I've been having such a craving for movie popcorn, I decided to go it alone and go to the show.

Now we get to the movie :-)

Oh! My!  Now it's no surprise to anyone I love a good romance and this one was excellent.  I LOVED THIS MOVIE.  Yes, yes, it can be argued it's rather simplistic in it's storyline.  I got talking to the girl sitting next to me before it started and she said she didn't like this kind of movie (chick flick).  When it was over and the lights were up and the credits were rolling, I asked her what she thought.  She said it was kind of cheesy and I'm not saying it wasn't, but even as she was saying it, I noticed she was smiling seemed rather happy.  And really, isn't that how we like to feel after we finish a good romance.

Yes, the story was almost step by step and I've no desire whatsoever to read the book as I think this kind of thing would bother me, but Zac Efron, besides being wonderful, wonderful eye candy, brought a lot of character to the role of Logan Thibault (pronounced Teebow which I found amusing).  He made me feel the loneliness and lostness of Logan and the frustration in not being able to tell Beth the truth about why walked from Colorado to Louisiana.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how well he played the role.

And I also loved the way Taylor Schilling played Beth.  She is intimidated and rather frightened of her ex, but she grows through the movie and is able to stand up to him.  Of course there is a misunderstanding between her and Logan - don't romance books have them all the time?  But they both made it believable.   And the chemistry between them - wowzers thought I.  The love scenes weren't too explicit, but very steamy nevertheless.

And Blythe Danner was quite a scene stealer as Beth's Nana.

The Lucky One isn't going to win any kind of Academy Awards.  I'm sure some people will make fun of it - just as some people make fun of romance books.  But at the end of the movie when someone who doesn't like this kind of movie was smiling, well, to me that says it's done it's work of making us romance fans sigh and feel good.  That's what I want most of all from a movie - or a romance book.

Grade: 5 out of 5