Reason Writers at the Movies: Peter Suderman Reviews The Lucky One
Senior Editor Peter Suderman reviews The Lucky One, the latest big-screen adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, in today's Washington Times:
Midway through "The Lucky One," the movie's pair of glowing lovers consider fate, the future, and the purpose of their lives.
"Do you think that life has a plan for you?" young blonde Beth (Taylor Schilling) asks her unshaven Iraq War veteran lover, Logan (Zac Efron).
"Aw jeez," he says, at which point they promptly return to gazing blankly into each other's eyes.
Viewers will find themselves with no choice but to do the same.
Based on a book by Nicholas Sparks, "The Lucky One" has a barebones story, but it is almost pathologically conflict averse. Like its young, conventionally handsome stars, it is designed to be looked at rather than engaged with. And while it sometimes styles itself as an investigation of love, destiny, and the rest of life's great romantic unknowables, it offers only mindless cliches by which to understand them. The movie's biggest mystery is how Mr. Efron keeps his mat of stubble so perfectly trimmed.