The Lucky One

(M) Roadshow DVD/BD

Oh, Nicholas Sparks, your crimes against cinema and book publishing are infinite. Somewhere between The Notebook and Dear John, the films became so unbelievably predictable.

Look folks, if you can buy pretty boy Zac Efron as a traumatised marine veteran trying to overcome his demons after three tours of duty, then this is the film for you. While Efron has indeed done well in the past, he seems so badly miscast in this film with his fake tattoos and earnest demeanour that you really don’t buy it from its opening frames.

If you’ve seen the trailer, there are no surprises in store for you here. After Efron’s character survives a bloodbath in Iraq, he finds a photo of a beautiful blonde and becomes convinced she has saved his life.

So he tracks her down and finds that she’s called Beth (Taylor Shilling) and that she has some baggage which will, predictably, cause some friction before the sparks fly.

With a plot so simple as to be banal, this might have been bearable if the leads had any chemistry but, alas, instead we get shots of Efron’s toned torso through sunlit windows to throw teenage girls off the scent.

There’s a lot that doesn’t happen here — drama, realism, character development and motivation and surprises — but if that doesn’t affect your viewing experience, dive in.

Adrian Drayton