How bad is this Zac attack? Well, let's just say I'm convinced director Scott Hicks opted to render his buff-and-scruffy star the strong, silent type just to keep Efron from opening his mouth.
Even within the company of recent Sparks releases like this year's 'The Vow', 'The Lucky One' comes across as a two-dimensional cartoon masquerading as heartfelt human interaction.
If you're after a high-quality weepie, this superbly crafted romantic melodrama from director Scott Hicks (Shine; The Boys Are Back) and novelist Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook; Dear John) will drain your tear ducts.
Falling victim to his source material, Hicks fails to invest it with any sort of edge, rendering the cinematic version as mawkish and saccharine as Sparks' bloated prose.
Even taken as simple schmaltz, 'The Lucky One' lacks the romantic impact of the adaptation of Sparks's 'The Notebook' or even the Channing Tatum-starrer 'Dear John'.
