Director: Scott Hicks

Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner

3 / 5

I should have hated this movie.

It's predictable, it's incredibly cheesy, its villain is crudely drawn and its plot is overly far-fetched. Yet despite its many faults, I still found myself enjoying 'The Lucky One'. Go figure.

Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, 'The Lucky One' stars an all-grown-up Zac Efron as Logan, a US Marine in Iraq for a third tour.

While on duty, Logan finds a picture of a beautiful blonde woman with the words "Keep safe" on the back. After finding the picture, a chain of events transpires that makes Logan believe this woman and her picture are his good luck charm.

Upon returning to America, Logan makes it his mission to find the woman - who turns out to be a North Carolina dog kennel owner by the name of Beth (Taylor Schilling). The ease with which our Marine finds this one woman in the whole of America using just a photograph is laughable - but try to put your skepticism aside.

Logan ends up taking a job at the kennel and finds himself getting closer to Beth, her grandmother (played by the always classy Blythe Danner) and her young son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart). But not everyone is happy with this new arrangement – Beth's ex-husband, the almost pantomime-bad Keith is determined to shut down Logan's burgeoning relationship with his old family and to find out how he came to be in North Carolina in the first place.

The chemistry between Efron and Schilling is believable enough, but some (myself included) may find it difficult to take Efron seriously in this rather grown-up role after his previous film exploits. (Think '17 Again' and 'High School Musical'). I did, however, particularly enjoy the performances of supporting cast members Danner and Stewart.

While 'The Lucky One' is nothing ground-breaking, it's a good solid romantic film - cynics need not apply.

'The Lucky One' is in NZ cinemas from April 19.