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THE LUCKY ONEMovie Reviews
Drama about a Marine searching for an unknown woman whose photo he believes saved his life in Iraq. Cast:Zac Efron, Blythe Danner, Taylor Schilling, Jay R. FergusonDirector:Scott HicksRelease Date:April 20, 2012DVD Release:August 14, 2012From:Warner Bros.Rating:PG-13Length:1 hr 41 min
The Lucky One played to weak reviews. • Connie Ogle wrote in the Miami Herald, "...despite a plot hole so big it could generate its own gravity field, it's still not a bad movie.... If this movie isn't girl porn, I don't know what is." • And Amy Biancolli wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, "It's all very pretty, and all very dull." More Reviews Below...
The Lucky One Positive Reviews (43 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: MODERATE(cg) "If there's a quibble -- well, apart from the wan plot and paper-thin characters -- it's that there's not enough adult action.... PG-13 is far too tame."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 198 words, 04/19/12
Mary Pols, Time: WEAK "...about as emotionally taxing as watching a home makeover show. Which it resembles.... The dialogue is unexcusable.... Efron acquits himself reasonably well."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 767 words, 04/19/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...forgettable and offers zero surprises but it's also harmless date-night fare made more appealing by the cast... Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling and especially Blythe Danner."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 615 words, 04/19/12
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: WEAK(cg) "...elicits more snickers than swoons.... a slowly paced romance illustrated in a series of sunny, Lite FM-scored montages that resemble Country Time Lemonade ads."(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 87 words, 04/19/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "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."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 604 words, 04/20/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: POOR(cg) "...pretty damn insufferable... doesn't have a genuine emotion in it or a plausible reason to endure it. It's strictly for the sisters of the cult of Sparks and the men who love them."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 437 words, 04/20/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...the cliches are as thick as a vat of honey.... But for those who lap up this sappy vision of romance, it contains all the key ingredients."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 403 words, 04/20/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...credit must be given to a film that delivers the goods... if you've ever liked a Nicholas Sparks movie, you're likely to enjoy this one."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 775 words, 04/20/12
James Rocchi, MSN Movies: POOR(cg) "...it's about rigorously, robotically following a predetermined 'tried and true' phony and false formula that got watered down to nothingness a couple films back."(See all of James Rocchi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 658 words, 04/18/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...delivers what's expected from it... gauzy, moody photography; a saccharine score; and all the heat that a PG-13 production can muster.... There are no surprises here..."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 860 words, 04/18/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: MODERATE "...part of the experience of a Nicholas Sparks movie is encountering revelations and reversals in the plot that challenge your sense of the preposterous."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 902 words, 04/20/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "...a wasted opportunity. Hicks is way out of his element. He hits the beats -- lonely woman, hunky stranger -- without bothering to develop even the slightest depth."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 440 words, 04/20/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sweet... While Efron and Schilling provide the chemistry this sort of movie needs, it is Hicks' measured hand that keeps it from turning into complete mush."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 758 words, 04/20/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "The leads' chemistry is more theoretical than actual. Still, the sunsets and sunrises and sunbeams through the windowpanes fall easily on the eyes."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 04/20/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...credit must be given to a film that delivers the goods... if you've ever liked a Nicholas Sparks movie, you're likely to enjoy this one."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 775 words, 04/20/12
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: MODERATE(cg) "There's nothing wrong with a three-hankie romantic weeper, but 'The Lucky One' doesn't even manage to elicit a token tear -- except perhaps one of boredom."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 661 words, 04/20/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: WEAK(cg) "Another Nicholas Sparks novel, another cinematic brush with insulin shock. Sweet doesn't begin to do this goop justice. Saccharine fails too..."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 650 words, 04/20/12
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: POOR(cg) "After about 90 minutes of golden light and soft guitar, 'The Lucky One' flips into Victorian melodrama... You'll gasp yourself silly."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 181 words, 04/20/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...fate, destiny, and sage cliches whirl together in a sugar crash of meaningful moments and tasteful eroticism."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 519 words, 04/20/12
Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: WEAK(cg) "...cinematic junk food. It's 'Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Movie,' where every landscape shot has the warm glow of a Thomas Kinkade painting."(See all of Barbara VanDenburgh's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 584 words, 04/20/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: MODERATE(cg) "...there's not much to the movie besides handsome sets, sun-dappled photography and a plot as predictable as the verse in a Hallmark card."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 552 words, 04/20/12
Roger Moore, Seattle Times: WEAK(cg) "...no deeper than Logan's philosophy of life -- 'Sometimes, the questions are complicated, and the answers are simple.' Yeah, he's quoting Dr. Seuss."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 312 words, 04/20/12
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: MODERATE(cg) "...blandly pleasant enough.... But when the film tries to inject anything resembling high drama, it gets dumb in a hurry."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 298 words, 04/20/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: POOR(cg) "Nothing to see in 'The Lucky One'... The movie isn't even in 3-D. How else do you expect real men to see two mushy hearts beating as one?"(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 537 words, 04/19/12
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...despite a plot hole so big it could generate its own gravity field, it's still not a bad movie.... If this movie isn't girl porn, I don't know what is."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 554 words, 04/20/12
Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend: POOR(cg) "If Nicholas Sparks' career has been dedicated to creating the most bland, generic, pointless romance of all time, then he's successfully done it with this latest title."(See all of Eric Eisenberg's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 624 words, 04/20/12
Keith Phipps, AV Club: MODERATE(cg) "As a pretty, low-stakes bayou romance the film works well enough. When asked to carry any kind of dramatic weight, however, it collapses."(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 400 words, 04/19/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a Disneyland version of a traumatized veteran and an emotionally abused spouse... numbingly pleasant, a cinematic anesthetic."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 844 words, 04/19/12
R. Kurt Osenlund, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "Fans will happily sigh as Efron waxes romantic while pinning his sea-blue eyes on his costar.... movies like this reduce everything to a thin, useless soup..."(See all of R. Kurt Osenlund's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 697 words, 04/17/12
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: POOR(cg) "After about 90 minutes of golden light and soft guitar, 'The Lucky One' flips into Victorian melodrama... You'll gasp yourself silly."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 181 words, 04/20/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: POOR(cg) "...cheesy... Never let it be said that Nicholas Sparks doesn't prefer easy fake greeting-card melodrama instead of something that looks more like complicated reality."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 719 words, 04/20/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: MODERATE "...part of the experience of a Nicholas Sparks movie is encountering revelations and reversals in the plot that challenge your sense of the preposterous."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 902 words, 04/20/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sweet... While Efron and Schilling provide the chemistry this sort of movie needs, it is Hicks' measured hand that keeps it from turning into complete mush."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 758 words, 04/20/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: FAIR "When a novel gives you soapsuds and washboard abs, what other choice does a director have but to provide the most aesthetically pleasing actors, scenery and sets..."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 797 words, 04/17/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "Despite their inner turmoil, the characters remain bland and superficial, never expressing gut feelings when homilies about destiny and life's little surprises will do."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 04/17/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...sweet... While Efron and Schilling provide the chemistry this sort of movie needs, it is Hicks' measured hand that keeps it from turning into complete mush."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 758 words, 04/20/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD(cg) "...could have easily become too vague, opaque, and pretentious... turns out to be an intriguing and mysterious romance... it's grounded in recognizable reality."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,038 words, 04/16/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: MODERATE "...part of the experience of a Nicholas Sparks movie is encountering revelations and reversals in the plot that challenge your sense of the preposterous."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 902 words, 04/20/12
15.6 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Lucky One's reviews are separated by an average 15.6 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Lucky One (43 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Lucky One's reviews cover 89.1% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 24,270 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 564 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Lucky One Coverage, Volume & Length (43 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 14.8 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Lucky One's reviews on average broke 14.8 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Lucky One's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Lucky One (43 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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