The Lucky One (2012)

A Marine travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.

Director:

Scott Hicks

Writers:

Will Fetters (screenplay), Nicholas Sparks (novel)

Stars:

Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner

5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zac Efron	...	Logan
Taylor Schilling	...	Beth
Blythe Danner	...	Ellie
Riley Thomas Stewart	...	Ben
Jay R. Ferguson	...	Keith Clayton
Adam LeFevre	...	Judge Clayton
Robert Hayes	...	Victor (as Robert Terrell Hayes)
Joe Chrest	...	Deputy Moore
Russell Durham Comegys	...	Roger Lyle (as Russ Comegys)
Sharon Conley	...	Principal Miller (as Sharon Morris)
Ann McKenzie	...	Charlotte Clayton
Kendal Tuttle	...	Aces
Cam Banfield	...	Younger Marine (as Cameron Banfield)
Ritchie Montgomery	...	Cottage Owner
Courtney James Clark	...	Logan's Sister (as Courtney J. Clark)

Storyline

Logan is a marine serving in Iraq. While there, he finds a photo of a girl with "keep safe" written on the back. He is admiring it when his unit is attacked. He survives and credits the photo for saving him. He tries to find the owner but can't, assuming he was killed. When he goes back to the States, he finds it difficult to adjust and is still haunted by what happened. Analyzing the photo, he finds in the background a landmark that tells him she is in Louisiana. He then goes there and finds her. He learns her name is Beth. He tries to tell her what happened but can't get the words out. She assumes he's there to apply for the job they advertised looking for someone to help at her family's business, a dog kennel. He says yes but at first she gets an uneasy feeling from him but her grandmother decides to give him a chance. It isn't long that he makes a connection with her son. He then discovers that it was her brother who had the picture only he doesn't remember him. He sees that her ...

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Plot Keywords:

post traumatic stress disorder | arrogance | disarming someone | child in peril | father figure | 

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Taglines:

From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Notebook and Dear John

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Kojo [Australia] Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lucky One

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,518,358, 22 April 2012

Gross USA:

$60,457,138

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$99,357,138

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, DiNovi Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Logan Thibault was written with Ryan Gosling in mind.

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Goofs

Beth's piano, which was covered-up and apparently not used for a long time, was absolutely perfectly in tune when Logan plays it. Pianos do not hold their tune like this.

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Quotes

Beth: What kind of a person drives from Colorado to Louisiana to work in a dog kennel?
Logan: I couldn't tell you. I walked.
Beth: You walked? You walked here from Colorado?
Logan: I like to walk.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Chris Hemsworth/Chance The Rapper (2015)

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Soundtracks

Count Me In
Written by Carina Round, Justin Rutledge, Dan Burns and Zac Rae
Performed by The Early Winters

User Reviews

Book vs. Movie May Contain Spoilers

The movie was great but I had to opportunity to read the book before watching the movie. This is truly a great story from Nicholas Sparks. The title "The Lucky One" is not really explained in the film, Victor tells Logan that he is "The Lucky One" because of the photo of Elizabeth (Beth). Another thing is that Logan doesn't call her Elizabeth in the movie, in the book he does and it strikes her because only her brother Drake had called her by her real first name. Also the way Drake died changed from the novel to the movie. In the novel Drake was killed by friendly fire, in the movie Logan tells Beth that he saw Drake when their platoons crossed and he was killed by enemy ambush. Victor dies from a boating accident in the novel, in the movie he is killed by enemy ambush. The death of Clayton in the novel is more elaborate. In fact in the book we aren't sure if Logan survived until the Epilogue. Other than the fact that the movie was a condensed version of the novel it was pretty good. The novel itself is exceptional. The film could have been better but what movie adapted from a book is without criticism?