THE LUCKY ONE (Scott Hicks). 101 minutes. Opens Friday (April 20). See listing. Rating: N
By mid-movie, the mostly female audience at The Lucky One preview screening was spending more time sniggering at the bad acting and dialogue than enraptured with the unfolding story and one soft sex scene.
Zac Efron plays a U.S. Marine in Iraq who finds a photo of an unidentified woman, decides it’s his good-luck charm and tracks her down when he gets home. Too embarrassed to explain his presence, he goes to work at her kennel. On the surface she dislikes him, but secretly she’s attracted. Though we know he’s attracted back because it’s that kind of movie, Efron displays all the emotion of an ox.
The woman (Taylor Schilling) has a cute son (Riley Thomas Stewart), a cuter granny (Blythe Danner, who seems amused by everything) and a mean ex-husband (Jay R. Ferguson) who wants her back.
After about 90 minutes of golden light and soft guitar, The Lucky One flips into Victorian melodrama. Thrill to the two rivals, the raging storm and the helpless child clinging to the rickety suspension bridge over the raging torrent.
You’ll gasp yourself silly.
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