The Lucky Ones
Two stars
Rated: R for language and some sexual content
1 hour, 53 minutes
A trio of lucky ones–injured but alive U.S. soldiers–return from the Iraq War in director Neil Burger’s “Coming Home”-lite tribute to those who serve. Unlike Hal Ashby’s Vietnam War classic, the mixed duffel bag of a drama tries to deploy funny situations instead of frankness. Scenes fall flat and feel false. But naturalistic performances by Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena infuse their characters with humanity.
Starting off with Tarantino-like dialogue about sex is a bad sign. And guess what? Big talker T.K. Poole (Pena of “Crash” and “World Trade Center”) is about to get hit by shrapnel where it hurts him the most, making him sexually dysfunctional. Injured by a Portojohn, Cheever (Tim Robbins of “Mystic River”) can’t wait to head to St. Louis and into the loving arms of his wife and college-bound son. What are the odds that his homecoming won’t go well?
The ebullient Colee (McAdams of “The Notebook” and “Wedding Crashers”) suffered a leg wound, and now has the singular mission of returning a guitar to the family of the soldier-boyfriend who saved her life. A power outage in New York causes them to miss their connecting flights, share a minivan rental and embark on a road trip across America. All they have in common are their dog tags.
Burger’s (“The Illusionist”) and co-scripter Dirk Wittenborn’s (“Fierce People”) plot contrivances include a tornado that twists in from nowhere. Despite the phony devices and story cliches, the performances are so good that you come to care for the three main characters as they begin to care for each other.
Each represents different reasons for choosing to serve in the military–none of them political. Each expresses such joy to be home, appreciating every little thing that we take for granted. Each handles the “thank you for serving” platitudes of those they encounter with grace. Although battle-scarred, they rarely express anger and never voice ideological points of view. Oddly unrealistic, these good-natured vets seem to have been shocked-and-awed into a strange state of acceptance.
With its apolitical stance, “The Lucky Ones” emerges as a buddy film: T.K., Cheever and Colee like and understand each other, as we do them. Their relationship encourages a support-your-troops message that skirts taking a stance for or against the Iraq War or government policies. The feel-good dramedy does nothing to address the real physical, psychological and financial problems of war veterans. In that respect, “The Lucky Ones” does a great disservice to those serving this country.
–Susan Tavernetti
