The Lucky One Review - 1 Star

Zac Efron plays a traumatized Iraq war veteran who narrowly avoids death when he picks up a random photograph.  The photo shows a pretty girl and when he returns home he vows to find her.  Taylor Schilling plays the girl, living in a rural town somewhere in Louisiana with her grandmother played by blythe Danner.  (Her grandmother!)  Anyway, the two meet, she hires him to help with her dog kennel, and they fall in love.  Except he fails to tell her about finding the picture.  She has a creepy ex husband which might explain why Zac feels a little creepy in this story.  The filmmakers use a lot of soft focus montages and sentimental music to tell their story.  It feels like filler.  Zac does his best work singing and dancing.  In “The Lucky One”  he’s a shut down vet.  “The Lucky One” misfires on several levels.   The story comes from a novel by Nicholas Sparks, who turned “The Notebook” into one of the most buzzed about movies of this decade.  Sorry guys but lightning doesn’t strike twice.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Sappy romance.  Is it entertaining?  Slow and sappy.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Save your money.