 DVD Review - The Lucky Ones
Tamsin Cracknell
Directed: Nick Burger (The Illusionist)
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, Michael Peña
Road-trip movies might just be the most unsubtle cinematographic metaphor there is, what with Johnny McTraveller battling the speedbumps and detours of life as he hurtles through the landscape on his way to spiritual nirvana. The Lucky Ones is no different, except that Johnny takes the form of three lightly injured US soldiers home on leave from Iraq, serendipitously sharing a car from New York to Las Vegas. A widespread power outage throws Colee (McAdams), Cheever (Robbins) and TK (Peña) together to face a sequence of bizarre and amusing misadventures, including an evangelical church service, a surprise divorce and a brush with a tornado. Away from the safety net of the army, they find common ground as they realise how alone they are as civilians.
 As one of the first films to deal with social fallout from the Iraq war, the script tries hard to highlight the modern difficulties of war-time homecoming, and America's schizophrenic reception of their nation's protectors. The mood, however, is unfailingly merry, which detracts somewhat from the gravity of the soldiers' plight.
The story has all the fluidity of a heart-rate monitor, with lengthy scenes of driving punctuated by arbitrary bursts of kooky adventure, but the cast carries the film, and each actor manages to reveal heart-warming depth in their character despite a limiting script. McAdams' is refreshing in a role completely unlike her usual coiffed sweetheart routine, and Robbins avoids letting his overt anti-war activism colour his portrayal in any way.
On the whole, this is an amusing and thoughtful early attempt at a difficult subject matter, and a pleasant way to spend an evening.
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