Review: The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones
3 Lloyds – Not Family-Friendly
Rated R for language and sexual content.

Right out of the gate I have to say The Lucky Ones surprised me. The movie centers around three very different U.S. soldiers returning home from the war in Iraq. The trio meet on the plane home, and they then find themselves on an unplanned road trip across America. During the course of the trip they end up forming a bond that may be the closest thing any of them has to a real family. TK is an experienced Army sergeant, Colee a young private, and Cheaver is an older reservist. Cheaver has completed his tour of duty and he’s heading home for good. TK and Colee on the other hand are on a 30 day leave recovering from injuries suffered in the line of duty.

Why did The Lucky Ones surprise me? Mainly because this turned out to be the total opposite of what I expected. It’s no secret that Tim Robbins, and many in Hollywood, are not President Bush supporters. Nor are they supporters of the war in Iraq. With that in mind, my preconceived notion about this flick was not positive at all. I figured The Lucky Ones would end up being nothing more than a screaming left agenda of Bush-hating, anti-war rhetoric telling us how bad the whole situation is.

Boy was I wrong!

First off, I applaud Tim Robbins for his participation in this movie. He’s once again proven why he’s a strong actor. He plays the character of Cheaver very well. He’s a returning reservist who’s not fond of the war. But, he did serve his country. As far as I’m concerned, Tim Robbins has proven to have more character than any of the screaming right people involved in the upcoming An American Carol movie. The Lucky Ones comes off as a very balanced movie, illustrating the journey, and the challenges, our men and women in uniform face when they return home from Iraq.

After watching the movie, I then turned to the media material for The Lucky Ones. This is where I applaud those involved with writing and producing the movie as well.

It turns out their intent was to present a balanced look at this whole subject. Brian Koppelman says, “The thing about this movie that struck us from the beginning was its fresh and original tone in the way it handles serious topics. Some movies about retuning soldiers have been politically laden, but this movie plays against all those expectations.” Bill Brock, one of the film’s executive producers points out, “In a time where the majority of perspectives on the war are dark and fail to address the positive side of the human spirit, The Lucky Ones is a film that translates national optimism and the sense of togetherness.”

The movie clocks in at close to two hours, but the two hours are by no means a waste of time. This is a wonderful road-trip movie.  The characters involved are not only dealing with some real life issues, but they also want to stop along the way from time to time so they can see what they’ve missed. The Lucky Ones becomes a fascinating journey through the heart of America showing us what we have right here in our own backyard. It’s also an incredible journey through the eyes of soldiers who’ve been away serving in Iraq. It’s amazing how we take for granted things we see every day. I was especially struck by a scene at a McDonald’s. For TK, something as simple as the value meal, became a smorgasbord joy.

The Lucky Ones, as far as I’m concerned, is a must see movie.

If you’ve ever wondered what our soldiers deal with while in Iraq, and when they return home, this movie will open your eyes in an ever so-subtle way. I say ever so-subtle because this is by no means a screamer movie. As I’ve already mentioned above, and as those involved in the movie also point out, there are way too many anti-war, or even pro-war, screamer type movies out there. At some point we need to step back, take a deep breath, and see what’s really going on. Once again, I applaud all involved with this flick for going the extra mile to put out a good balanced movie, dealing with some very real issues.

I am rather disappointed that Hollywood has chosen to somewhat bury this movie.

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions are producing some incredible movies these days. However, for some reason they can’t seem to get noticed by the Hollywood insider crowd. As a result, The Lucky Ones might go unnoticed in the sea of big budget, and might I add bad movies, which seem to be taking over the screens these days. I might also point out that those so-called big budget movies are tanking at the box office week after week too. The Lucky Ones opened on a limited release schedule this weekend hitting just 425 screens. All I can do is hope it gains momentum and rapidly spreads onto screens all across the United States.

The Lucky Ones is most definitely a movie addressing some tough issues concerning our soldiers in Iraq, that needs to be seen by a much broader audience.

As for our family-friendly rating, The Lucky Ones is obviously not family-friendly. It carries an R rating for language and sexual content. Yes, the language is wild at times. But, as for the sexual content, I must admit there were some things that didn’t happen in the movie which pleasantly surprised me. A few times I was sure we were heading for a steamy-hot-and-sexy-skin-revealing-sex-scene. But, suddenly events would change, and the script writers stayed on point with their intent and purpose of the flick. For this, I too once again applaud the script writers for not succumbing to the Hollywood urge to toss in a sex scene, just for the sake of tossing one in.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus