Last night I was lucky enough to see a free sneak peek of the new Nicholas Sparks and Zac Efron movie, The Lucky One before it hits theaters Friday. I must admit that while I liked the book, it was not my favorite book by Mr. Sparks, but I was still interested to see the movie. If you haven't read the book, The Lucky One is a story about a young marine that finds a random photo of a woman while in combat. The photo ends up bringing him luck and he survives many events that he shouldn't have lived through. He told himself that if he made it out of the war then he would find the girl in the photo - so he does. And the story begins... Here are some key things I thought after viewing the movie:
1) Visuals - I feel like Nicholas Sparks' movies always have amazingly beautiful shots of the South. This film was no different. I swear they must have filmed the entire movie during sunsets and/or sunrises because the lighting was always gorgeous!
2) Taylor Schilling's legs - Whoever played the character of Beth had to have some killer legs in this film because Beth is always in shorts and boots (including close ups of her thighs!). I'd love to know Taylor's workout routine!
3) Don't sweat the small stuff - Normally, I love books way more than their movie versions because movies usually leave out so many details that I love/find important. This is not the case with The Lucky One. I believe all the details/extra parts left out actually made the movie better. For one thing, it made the character of Keith/Beth's ex-husband (played by Jay R. Ferguson) a lot more likeable. In the book, he was just this manipulative, womanizing pervert, but in the movie you could tell that he wasn't a bad guy; he just wanted his family back together.
4) Shining stars - At first I was going to say Riley Thomas Stewart (plays Ben) did the best job. Then it changed to Blythe Danner (plays Ellie) and so on and so on. So, I've decided that there was not just one shining star in this film and that all the actors did a great job in their roles.
5) He's a big kid now! - In the book, the character of Logan is in his late 20's, so while I LOVE Zac Efron, I originally thought he was strange choice to be playing someone so old. In the movie, Logan is 25 (Zac turns 25 in October), so it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. He did a great job in his first official "adult role".
6) Cougartown - In regards to #5, I thought Taylor Schilling seemed way to old to play Zac's love interest. I was worried that the whole time I would just see her as a cougar and Zac as youngin Troy from his High School Musical days. This wasn't the case at all actually. Taylor is about 27 years old in real life and her character Beth was supposed to be about 27/28ish in the movie, so it worked for the movie and for me.
7) Quotes - I thought the movie had some good quotes/one-liners. I don't want to give any of them away to ruin the movie or any of its jokes, but I'm sure you'll hear them soon enough.
8) Zeus - Zeus is Logan's dog and, in my opinion, he could technically be called a scene stealer! The dog was super obedient and loyal to Logan. It's awesome how well trained the real dog was. Lily would make an awesome movie dog, no? She will get there one day!
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| Lily is so pretty! |
9) LA vs. NC - While the book takes place in North Carolina, the movie was filmed in Louisiana, so I'm guessing that is why the movie took place there too. It's so weird having Nicholas Sparks' movies that don't represent his home state! But, I can't complain because Georgia had the pleasure of being the background for The Last Song :o) Thank you, cheaper Georgia taxes!
10) Too sexy for his shirt - Last but not least, you know I have to comment on how gorgeous Zac Efron was this entire movie! Serious, from the poster to the premiere Zac was oozing hotness and muscles! Photo proof below!
Oh! I'm sorry. I don't know how that last photo snuck in there ;o)
Will you be hitting the theaters this weekend to see The Lucky One? What do you think about the book? Let me know you opinion in the comments below! Also, one of the previews was for the new movie Rock of Ages! It looks awesome...cool cast + great soundtrack! Check out the trailer here.
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I will admit the lucky one wasn't my favorite either. Nor was his new one the best of me.
ReplyDeleteI think you will like the movie though Jessica! Check it out!
DeleteI pretty much stopped reading Nicholas Sparks novels after I got stick of crying at them all - but I for sure stay away from anything military-related. (I live the life, I don't need to be reminded of the dangers my husband gets to go do...) On the flip side, I'm totally crushed on Zac (don't tell my husband, though he suspects it...), so I'm really torn. Does this one follow most Sparks novels and have you bawling in sad ways? Or happy ways?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your comment, I realized this is probably the first Nicholas Sparks book/movie that did not make me cry.
DeleteI think you would enjoy the movie - while Zac's character Logan is a Marine, that does not really affect his relationship with Beth (It is more that he lies about things in his past). His military background obviously adds to the story, but the general story could take place anywhere and at any time period. --> I'm having a hard time explaining without leaking details, but basically the movie comes down to a photo he finds while overseas.
Now on to Zac - I did love him in this movie. I have a serious middle school crush going on with him as well! I love any movie he dances in and I find that he has certain mannerisms a la Matthew McConaughey and Brad Pitt that I love.
Again, without giving anything away - the ending has a sad event take place, but in a way it works everything out and makes the story happy haha...just go see it!
Hahaha, as long as it's not like sad depressing like A Walk to Remember...
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