The Lucky One 12A

Another year, another Nicholas Sparks adaptation; instead of playing a game of "guess who dies" in this one, enjoy the cute German Shepherd, super attractive cast and Zac Efron's exceptionally well groomed facial hair. In fairness to the former tween heartthrob, he actually does a decent job with a typically cheesy, often unintentionally hilarious script.

Efron plays a marine who has his life saved by a photograph of a beautiful woman; basically he goes to pick up something shiny and an ISD goes off where he was standing - saving his life. Later, he happens to be discussing how much of a lucky bastard he is with a fellow marine when another explosion takes place - again leaving him the only survivor. When he finally gets released from service, he vows to track down the lovely young lady in the picture. What he finds is a single mother living in a small town full of complications. Much soppiness and longing looks ensue.

Before viewing The Lucky One ask yourself one thing; do you think he would've went looking far and wide for this woman if she was in fact fat and wide? If he picked up a picture of Pat Butcher with "Stay Safe xx" on the back of it, he quite probably would've flung it to the ground and walked straight into an enemy wall of fire. But hey, this is the movies folks, 'cause we're also supposed to buy the fact that someone as well groomed as Zak Efron is in fact a loner. He is not Bruce Banner or The Littlest Hobo, and no amount of puppy dog looks is going to convince us otherwise.

When broken down, The Lucky One is a conventional, predictable romantic drama that skates by on the typically heavy handed romance of your average Nicholas Sparks novel. The Notebook has a lot to answer for - it's given these films a template that they follow with vigorous predictability. Efron does his best, but there's very little about the romance at the core that is in any way believable. Director Hicks attempts the "unspoken" attraction thing but the sparks between Schilling and Efron just aren’t really there.

Efron is solid, but this is the usual Sparks crap that only his core fans will tolerate.