Director Neil Burger's road movie The Lucky Ones stars Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Peņa as three Iraq War veterans who take a road trip together. The trio meet on their way home from overseas with Fred Cheaver (Robbins) finishing his service once and for all, while the other two -- Colee Dunn (McAdams) and TK Poole (Peņa) -- are about to enjoy 30 days of R and R. A blackout leads to the three renting a car together after their flight is indefinitely delayed, and driving from New
York to Cheaver's home in St. Louis. Upon arrival, Cheaver learns that his wife wants a divorce, and his son needs 20,000 dollars in order to attend Stanford. Emotionally shaken, Cheaver tries to drop the other two off at the airport, but they refuse to go until they can help him through his troubles. The two of them, however, are going through their own issues. Poole suffered an injury while on duty that he worries will end his relationship with his girlfriend, and Dunn is trying to deliver a guitar to the parents of her deceased boyfriend, a fellow soldier who died overseas. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
The Iraq war has thus far produced no truly memorable dramatic movies, as opposed to documentaries, and the losing streak continues with The Lucky Ones.
This is not the worst of the Iraq-themed movies of the past few years, and it's possibly the best acted of any of them. But you wish the bonding of these three people wasn't diluted by the trite scenarios and artificial circumstances of their saga.
As they hit the road, the scenes play out like TV sitcom vignettes with little holding the centre together. We find out details about the characters lives, but never feel we know them.
It gets so preoccupied with all the local color and colorful locals, that it forgets about the people on this journey -- or their ultimate destination.
... captures the manner in which both the smallest and largest events on a road trip can build a sense of camaraderie among three strangers with very little in common.
It feels like the writers were trying for dialogue that sounded natural and improvisational. Instead, it feels scripted and rehearsed. It's all phony balony!
In this interview, The Lucky Ones director Neil Burger speaks about understanding the modern soldier, his surprising casting choice of anti-war activist Tim Robbins as a veteran and why he relates the story while the Iraq conflict continues.
Rachel McAdams keeps reminding me how good she is in every role she takes. In this movie, she just glows energy. Acting is one thing. How do you project energy? Through joy, anger and curiosity, she projects this vibe and she is the backbone of the film.
While their circumstances may be forced, the three characters feel like real, complex, likable people. That's a real rarity in a film about veterans, no matter what the ideology is.
The lucky ones is full of conflicting ideas and contradicts itself at every turn. It's not as deep as it thinks it is either, often hinting at something grater than what actually transpires. It also has a very odd scene involving a tornado that is a little misguided (and that is me being very polite!). All that said, I
quite liked it! I don't think any of the comments I have mentioned were intentional but somehow it works, it's so awkwardly quirky you just can't look away, serendipity at its kindest. It is also well acted, directed and well edited, using handheld cameras to its advantage.
Good movie. Not the fastest moving drama, but just the right amount of things going on the keep my interest. Watching these three soldiers go through so many different phases of problems and issues was very interesting. We got to watch them get closer and closer to feeling like family together. A feel good movie? Not
sure. I am torn between liking the ending, and wishing it went a different direction...but I guess it was realistic.
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