The Lucky Ones (2008)

Director:

Neil Burger

Writers (WGA):

Neil Burger (written by) &
Dirk Wittenborn (written by)

Release Date:

26 September 2008 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

Sometimes losing your way home means finding yourself

Plot:

The story revolves around three soldiers -- Colee, TK and Cheever -- who return from the Iraq War after...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Stranded | College Tuition | Road Trip | Iraq War

Cast

Tim Robbins	...	Fred Cheaver
Rachel McAdams	...	Colee Dunn
Michael Peña	...	T.K. Poole
Molly Hagan	...	Pat Cheaver
Mark L. Young	...	Scott Cheaver
Howard Platt	...	Stan Tilson
Arden Myrin	...	Barbara Tilson
Coby Goss	...	Peter Tilson (as Coburn Goss)
John Heard	...	Bob
Jennifer Joan Taylor	...	Bob's Wife
Katherine LaNasa	...	Janet
Leo Ford	...	Janet's husband
Susan Yeagley	...	Kendra
Emily Swallow	...	Brandi
John Diehl	...	Tom Klinger

Also Known As:

The Return (USA) (working title)
O dromos tis epistrofis (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
The lucky ones - Un viaggio inaspettato (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

Canada:113 min | USA:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44062) | Canada:18A | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-7

Filming Locations:

Alsip, Illinois, USA

Company:

Overnight

Trivia:

Colee talks of how T.K. and his fiancée should experiment sexually, 'by having another man with her while T.K. watches'. Later on in the film, Cheaver (accidentally) puts himself in exactly that position (having sex with a woman just as her husband enters the room).

Goofs:

Continuity: In one scene, Colee is grinning broadly. In the next scene she is opening her mouth to talk.

Quotes:

Colee Dunn: [sobbing]
Fred Cheaver: Listen. How about you stop crying and we will stop?
Colee Dunn: What do you mean?
Fred Cheaver: You have been wanting to sight seeing, right?
Colee Dunn: Yeah?
Fred Cheaver: Ok, so we will go somewhere, do something.
Colee Dunn: Can we have a picnic?
Fred Cheaver: pauses
T.K. Poole: Yeah, picnic, whatever.
Fred Cheaver: Yeah!

Movie Connections:

References The Fly (1986)

Soundtrack:

Ragged Wood

an awesome quirky little film.

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.