Film Clip: The Lucky One

On his last tour in Iraq, a Marine (Zac Efron) finds a picture of a woman (Taylor Schilling) that becomes a good-luck charm for him. Back home and mustered out, he walks from Colorado to Louisiana to find her, then can’t find words to say what brought him to her—but they fall in love anyway. Another maudlin, contrived movie from a Nicholas Sparks novel, this one adapted by Will Fetters and directed by Scott Hicks (Shine). Sparks and Efron’s less demanding fans may be entertained by the Hallmark-card photography (heavy on golden sunsets, shimmering waters and lush foliage) and the general moony romantics. Efron and Schilling are OK in themselves, but there’s little chemistry between them; their love scenes play like soft-porn sex-therapy videos. Blythe Danner adds warmth as Schilling’s grandmother. J.L.