This is a video review of The Lucky One, a new movie based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. It stars Zac Efron as a war veteran who has a photo of a stranger to thank for his life.
To be fair to Nicholas Sparks I did enjoy The Notebook. It has a great setting, magnificent acting, and a sucker punch ending. The problem is that all of the movies based on Sparks’ books are pretty much the same.
As Chris Stuckmann states in this video review for The Lucky One, it’s as though he has a checklist and then just changes the specifics: the setting, the characters, the tragedy that connects them.
Having said all this I still think it’s unfair to label Sparks as a hack. If you don’t like his style then just don’t read his books. Or watch the movies based on them. Of which The Lucky One is a poor example.
