The Lucky One

The Lucky One (2012)
Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, and Blythe Danner
Based on the novel by: Nicholas Sparks
Directed by: Scott Hicks
SC=6 V=4 C=4
Grade: A+

I loved the book that this movie was based on. And this movie was another great adaptation of a novel. U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive - a photograph he found of a woman he doesn't even know. Discovering her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job offered by her mother (Danner) at her family-run kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm. This was Efron's best performance in a movie yet and Schilling was extremely believable as a lonely single mother. Now, I just have to wait a year for Sparks' next novel, Safe Haven, to be turned into a movie (with Josh Duhamel...yay!)

No Reservations

No Reservations (2007)
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Abigail Breslin
Directed by: Scott Hicks
SC=3 V=4 C=3
Grade: A

I think Aaron Eckhart is a very underrated actor. He is great in everything he's in, as well as Abigail Breslin. Catherine Zeta-Jones is good, too. Kate (Zeta-Jones) is a chef in a New York restaurant, well known for being difficult to work with. When she gets a call from the hospital, saying that her sister and her niece were in a car accident, she is given custody of Zoe (Breslin). At first, they don't get along, Kate doesn't know what to do with a kid. When she's forced to take a few days off after a breakdown in the restaurant, a new chef is hired to help her. Nick (Eckhart) is the opposite of Kate in every way. When Kate starts bringing Zoe to the restaurant at night so she can watch her, the three bond over the restaurant. All three stars give very heartfelt performances, which is what makes this an enjoyable movie.