The Lucky One - Forever Yours

The novels of Nicholas Sparks enjoy enormous popularity not only in book form. The now almost inevitable film adaptations of his bestsellers also continue to lure audiences, particularly female audiences, to the cinemas in droves. Adaptations such as Like a Single Day, Message in a Bottle or The Shining of Silence have not only made the box office ring, but have also caused the sales of the handkerchief industry to skyrocket. Now the film adaptation of Sparks` 2009 novel The Lucky One - Forever Yours is poised to continue this success story. The chances of that are not bad at all.

The story centers on young soldier Logan Thibault (Zac Efron), who is firmly convinced that he owes the fact of having returned alive from his now third Iraq mission only to the photo of a woman he does not know. Since he found the picture in the rubble during a mission, situations that should have cost him his life have always ended smoothly. When Logan finds out who the woman in the photo is, he sets out to thank her. But when he finds himself in front of Beth (Tylor Schilling), he can't find the right words to express his gratitude. And so, without further ado, he takes a job at her dog breeding station instead. While Beth's mother Ellie (Blythe Danner) is quickly taken with the mysterious young man, Beth is initially suspicious of the stranger. But when she realizes that her son Ben is also becoming friends with Logan, she too puts aside her doubts. Slowly, a relationship develops between the two that could evolve into true love. However, Beth's extremely jealous ex-husband, police officer Keith (Jay R. Ferguson) and the truth behind Logan's appearance in the young woman's life could destroy the budding happiness quite quickly...

There's no question that The Lucky One - Forever Yours is extremely cheesy, full of clichés and offers no real surprises. Some elements that keep popping up in Nicholas Sparks can be observed here as well. But apart from the fact that the target audience is offered exactly what they expect from a love movie of this kind, the realization of the emotional material by director Scott Hicks (Shine, Recipe to Fall in Love) is also very good in terms of pure craftsmanship. The Louisiana landscape was captured by cinematographer Alar Kivilo in enchanting images, which are accompanied by a harmonious soundtrack. It just has to make your heart swell.

Zac Efron, especially at the beginning, is a little too uptight trying to prove himself as a serious actor and stop being seen as just the teen crush from the High School Musical movies. But the more he opens up to Beth as Logan, the looser his acting becomes as well. Especially in the romantic scenes, it becomes clear that Efron definitely has what it takes to be convincing as the hero in a romance movie. There is a tangible spark between Efron and Taylor Schilling and even if the big sparks don't fly, there are enough moments where hopeless romantics can sob unrestrained.

The Lucky One - Forever Yours may not win any awards for the best script and the most sophisticated dramaturgy. Nor is it by far the best of all the Nicholas Sparks film adaptations to date. But if you simply want to see a beautiful love story, told with attractive actors in a beautiful setting, and which manipulates the tear glands of its audience so uninhibitedly obvious many a time, this is absolutely the right film for you. If you liked The Shining of Silence, you can confidently pack your tissues and head to the movies! Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp