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‘Lucky One’ not very realistic but swoon-worthy

By Staff | Apr 25, 2012

During the hell of war, sometimes fate drops an angel onto the battlefield. U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) notices a crumbled, slightly sandy, three-by-five photo of a blonde woman in an Iraqi street. His stooping pause to retrieve the snapshot delays his boot steps long enough to avoid a shrapnel attack.

No one can identify the picture, but it does bring him home safely, although suffering heavily from P.T.S.D. Somehow he walks (faithful German Shepherd in tow) from Colorado to Louisiana where Beth (Taylor Shilling) works with her grandmother (Blythe Danner) at a family owned kennel.

Based on a Nicholas (“The Notebook”) Sparks romance, “The Lucky One,” has God, Cupid and serendipity all coming together to place Logan and Beth in each other’s lives. Beth’s ex (the town’s immature bullying deputy sheriff) questions (like anyone watching) why a suave, handsome ex-Marine would settle for scooping dog crap in Smallburg, U.S.A., and not exhibit any sudden loud noise brutality?

Despite the one lustful night, “Lucky One” opts for a rural Norman Rockwell 1950s slowly-getting-to-know-you pace and morality. The “ex,” nanny and shadow of Beth’s K.I.A. brother injects variables which lead down the expected pathway.

Note: Those who gave their regards to “Dear John,” “The Notebook,” and assorted life’s a happily-ever-after hopeless romantic dreams will swoon. Otherwise, the continuous square pegs fitting round holes will crash your party. Feel good. It could never, ever happen anywhere on this planet. Sorry!