The Lucky Ones

Did you have any idea that The Best Years of Our Lives was remade in 2007? I didn't either until I was actually watching the movie and figuring out the similarities. The Lucky Ones is a very good film, but unfortunately, hardly anyone has even heard of it. Don't expect a literal remake, though. This one won't make you cry, and it won't change your life, but it is a modern tribute.

Instead of three veterans returning from WWII, the three leads are coming home from Iraq. Tim Robbins is the Frederic March equivalent, an older family man who has to adjust to his relationship with his wife and college-aged child. Michael Pena is the injured party, but instead of missing hands, he has damaged another part of his anatomy that makes him feel like less of a man. And instead of Dana Andrews, there's Rachel McAdams, who's looking for her boyfriend's family (instead of Dana looking for his wife). Just like in the original, they start off with mixed feelings about coming back, and after their homecomings don't go well, they meet up again and help each other through their struggles. It does deviate quite a bit from The Best Years of Our Lives, though, so don't hold it against me that I called it a remake. It's as close to a remake as we're going to get, since the modern time has changed quite a bit from the 1940s. I really like it though, and I own a DVD copy.

Three soldiers who have received non life threatening wounds in Iraq are together on a plane to New York. Two of them are on thirty day leaves while the other has served his time and is on his way home. Due to a power outage, all flights out of New York have been canceled. The three agree to rent a car together in order to continue the trip to their destinations. Thus begins a road trip that is highly dramatic with its share of comic events.

Fred Cheaver is the middle aged father figure of the three - a man who never really expected to do anything in the army except serve his domestic reserve duty. He is glad to be rid of the whole thing and is headed home to his wife and son. The two young soldiers who accompany Fred are Colee Dunn and T.K. Poole. Colee is a bright-eyed innocent who is on a mission for a fallen comrade who saved her life. T.K. is a no nonsense soldier from a family of soldiers who plans to make the army his career and move up the chain of command.

Whereas, Fred's quest is to return home to wife and son, Colee's and T.K.'s goals are to travel to Las Vegas for two entirely different reasons. Colee wants to return her dead comrade's treasured guitar to his family. T.K.'s reason is somewhat mysterious, but we know it is related in some way to his injury that has left him temporarily impotent.

As with all road trip films, the experiences and interactions of these three lead to conclusions not expected by them or the viewers.

Unlike most films featuring vets returning from the horrors of war, this film is not filled with dark angst - not to say the characters are not well-fleshed and genuine. These three are real people with real problems, but their depictions are not heavy-handed.

During this film, the viewer gets to enjoy the work of three excellent actors. Tim Robbins gives his usual fine, understated performance as the older man facing some totally unexpected twists of fate. Rachel McAdams gives Colee a likable innocence but also reveals some darker layers of her character. Michael Peña is very, very good as the macho guy with a heart who only wants to be a good soldier. Watching these three interact is a real treat.

Some may consider the treatment of the subject matter of this film too light handed, but it has a gentleness that rings true. It is surely worth watching.

Three Iraq vets are back in the States. Sgt T.K. Poole (Michael Pena) is going home to his fiancée in Vegas. Pvt Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams) is returning her boyfriend's guitar to his family in Vegas. Sgt Fred Cheever (Tim Robbins) is retired and going home to his wife in St. Louis. The three are stranded at JFK Airport and they rent a minivan for a road trip.

Rachel McAdams is oddly funny. In fact, all three actors do a good job. They have great chemistry together. It's like a three way boxing match. They fight, they laugh, they cry, and they hug. We have three solid actors doing some pretty interesting gymnastics.

A lot of things happen on this trip. Some of it is too out there. Let's just say the tornado is a little too much.

Neil Burger's offbeat, quirky, dramatic movie is a triumph. It succeeds in all the aspects, from the technical parts to the acting, I can't find a single negative thing about it. Burger doesn't dilly-dally around, he went straight to the point of his subject, giving a fair amount of time for each of the three characters (McAdams, Pena and Robbins) to develop and eventually you can't help but really like them...a lot. Especially McAdams but more on that later. The script is tightly wound, the chemistry between the three protagonists doesn't seem forced, the movie doesn't force you to like them the moment the movie starts but instead, these colorful characters will gradually grow on you.

Tim Robbins, one of my favorite actors, doesn't disappoint. 2008, I have seen him in two movies the other one being The City of Ember. And as long as a movie has Tim Robbins in it, I'm sold. That's why I watched the movie in the first place. Michael Pena, another great guy, gives off a good vibe towards the movie and once you know what's been bothering his character, you can't help but laugh at how one-sided and ridiculous his problem is. Pena gives one of his greatest performance on screen. And of course, the belle of the ball, the star of the show, Rachel McAdams gives a quirky, zesty and joyful performance as a lovable Southerner and I can't help but be reminded of another quirky, zesty and joyful character, Amelie. She just keeps the laughs rolling in and steal every scene she's in. She gives the character such depth that one might come off as one dimensional had it been portrayed by a lesser talent. Definitely an underrated performance for 2008.

Highly recommended.

I'd never heard of Neil Burger's "The Lucky Ones" until a friend recommended it to me after catching it on a flight to Australia. Released in theatres stateside last year, it was pulled after making a paltry $267,000 in its opening week. This is a hell of a shame as what we have here is the first great movie about the Iraq war. Three soldiers return to the states on leave and through circumstances end up on a road trip to Vegas. Michael Pena is a cocky Sargeant with a wound in his manhood, struggling to come to terms with how his Fiancé will react to his impotence. Tim Robbins is a veteran trying to find the money to send his kid to college and thus stop him enlisting. But the standout performance, and quite possibly the standout performance of the past year full stop, comes from Rachel McAdams as a naive private returning her dead boyfriends guitar to his family. Her turn here is far superior to anything Oscar nominated this year and probably the best from an American actress since Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby. The films strongest point is its lack of a "message". Pro war or Anti war, you'll find your own point of view here and Burger is subtle enough to allow you the privilege. I won't give it away but this has a great ambiguous seventies style ending, just the way I like 'em. It's always a good sign when a movie ends and you wish you could get to see more of the characters, and it's an all too rare occurrence in modern cinema. For this Burger and his cast should be applauded.