the lucky one

the year: 2012

the genre: drama

the cast: Zac Efron (Logan); Taylor Schilling (Beth); Blyth Danner (Ellie); Riley Thomas Stewart (Ben); Jay Ferguson (Keith Clayton)

the plot: U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault 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 and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local 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.

listen for: "Start appreciating the memories you have and stop begrudging the ones you never got to make."

did you know: theaters on military installations were given an advanced showing of the film.

a shout out to: Blaine, Scott, Logan, and anyone else who has made it so I now view all Nicholas Sparks' movies skeptically.  My two thoughts after watching this: 1) could someone please get that girl a bobby pin so she could pin back her bangs?! and 2) let me get this straight: this guy can repair boat engines, play the piano, train dogs for agility courses, do dishes, good naturedly lose at chess to a kid, dance, single-handedly renovate a house, lift three 50 pound bags of dog food at a time without breaking a sweat, and is great with dogs AND kids?  Guess they've got their chick flick formula pegged.

disclaimer: there are a few make out scenes in this one.