The Lucky OneMovie Reviews

No
Avg. Critic Score: 39 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 OK for kids 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 63
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    Efron, who wears an "All glory is fleeting" tattoo on his back and a soulful look on his face, gets to be more of a grown-up in The Lucky One than in most of what he's done before. Read full review

  • 60
    Movieline |

    The Lucky One aspires to but never reaches the grandly melodramatic heights of the über-Sparks adaptation "The Notebook," though a reconciliation embrace in an outdoor shower of some sort seems deliberately staged to evoke the earlier feature. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The Lucky One doesn't have the schlock rapture of "The Notebook" (the one Sparks adaptation that has really worked). The trouble with the movie isn't that it's too girly-swoony; it's that it tries to achieve emotion through glowy sunsets and a paint-by-numbers script. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    So the cliches are as thick as a vat of honey. And the love story proves just as syrupy. But for those who lap up this sappy vision of romance, it contains all the key ingredients. Read full review

  • 40
    New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman

    The biggest problem, however, comes down to chemistry. If the leads have it, a Sparks romance will work. Read full review

  • 40
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Depending on how you feel about Zac Efron, he is either a sensitive hunk or an inexpressive hunk, but definitely a hunk. Unable as I am to locate any feelings about him, I see Mr. Efron as a hunk with a problem delivering sustained dialogue in units of more than one or two sentences. Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    Seeing her (Schilling) and Efron fumble at each other is like watching a stick of butter and a bag of flour not turn into a cake. Read full review

  • 30
    The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy

    Embalming the simple and simplistic yarn in an amber glow that is all but suffocating and banishing from it any traces of humor and spontaneity, director Scott Hicks serves up this treacly tale with absolutely no trace of self-consciousness about the material's cliches or simple-mindedness. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Amy Biancolli

    Supposedly he's suffered, supposedly there are demons lurking within, but guess what: This is a movie. If we can't see it, it's not there. Read full review

  • 25
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Is it the worst of the seven screen Sparks so far? Nope. My vote still goes to 2009's "The Last Song" with Miley Cyrus mothering those unhatched turtle eggs. But it's still pretty damn insufferable. Read full review

View more reviews for The Lucky One on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 14+ Sweet but formulaic love story OK for teen romantics.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that, like other romances based on Nicholas Sparks novels -- including The Last Song, Dear John, and The Notebook -- The Lucky One is filled with swoony, sentimental moments involving a pair of star-crossed lovers kept apart by their life challenges and personal struggles. Expect some gauzy love scenes (mostly kissing and early stage undressing -- no private parts are seen, though the top of a male backside is visible); infrequent swearing ("s--t," etc.), some drinking by adults, some tense scenes of peril and confrontation, and jarring-but-not-graphic wartime scenes in which grenades explode and soldiers are shot dead. Although the movie means well overall, it does suggest that women need the love of a good man to be able to love themselves.
  • Families can talk about why romantic movies often seem to have female characters who can't seem to find their strength and center without first falling in love. What's the message here?
  • How does The Lucky One depict romance and relationships? Do you think it's realistic/accurate?
  • What is the movie saying about the toll that war takes on soldiers?
The good stuff
  • message true2 Positive messages: The Lucky One promotes the ideas that struggles don't have to define you and that you must learn to stand up for yourself. Also, that love heals,  that family bonds are very powerful, and that loyalty matters. But it also perpetuates the notion that women, no matter how capable, need the love of a good man to be able to love themselves.
  • rolemodels true3 Positive role models: Almost all of the characters, even the one obviously pitched as the "bad guy," have a soft side. Logan is kind, earnest, and principled, and -- despite some nightmares and sadness -- appears generally intact after the war. Beth is a caring mother and daughter. Together, they're a beacon of niceness.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Gunfight in the middle of a war, with some soldiers shot dead. Innocent bystanders also die. Explosions in war zones. The war scenes in general feel menacing. An abusive man stalks his ex-wife and threatens her when she doesn't give into his demands. Later, he gets into a fight with another man and brandishes a gun at him. A harrowing scene shows people about to fall into a raging river during a storm.
  • sex false3 Sexy stuff: Couples kiss passionately in the shower and in a bedroom while they remove each other's clothing (shot in close-ups that don't show private parts); sex is implied on more than one occasion. One scene depicts the woman with her hand down the back of a man's pants, with the upper part of his backside showing.
  • language false3 Language: Relatively infrequent use of words including "s--t," "damn," "hell," "goddamn," and "ass."
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: An iPod is seen, as is a Mitsubishi car.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Adults drink on dates and at social functions. The movie's bad guy gets drunk and starts a fight with another man. Beth gets a little tipsy during a date.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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The Lucky One Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Exclusive Features

Cast Interviews Exclusive Cast Interviews Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling talk about their characters, Nicholas Sparks on what makes his books perfect for the big screen and Blythe Danner on why girls love Zac.