The Lucky Ones
by Neil Burger
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Arden Myrin, Howard Platt, Michael Peņa, Rachel McAdams, Tim RobbinsDirector: Neil Burger
Brand: Lions Gate
Cinematographer: Declan Quinn
Composer: Rolfe Kent
Editor: Naomi Geraghty
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of The Lucky Ones
Movie Review: A Soldier Story Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
It isn't well known but some 50,000 vets died during the V/N war; but a tragic 50,000 more died after coming home. Back then you didn't see the honoring of veterans you do today. I am proud to be a part of the movement to push for the honoring of all who serve in combat. A brief scene in the movie features a couple of saps who are against the war. To these soldiers' honor, they silently tolerated the awkward, outdated foolishness of those characters...except for Rachel who had to(ahem) "take care" of a couple of snotty girls in the bar.
One of the reasons so many V/N vets died after coming home from the war, were the movies that characterized veterans as grotesque charicatures, that led ultimately to V/N Vets chronic unemployment, and marital failure. That was wrong. The producers and directors of those lies became millionaires at the expense of veterans a thousand times more honorable, who are now dead - while the director owns his own vineyard. Isn't that special?
Anyone who has served in the military, especially in a combat zone, or a family member of one will love this film. The script qualifies as 'literary', the acting, absolutely flawless. It's a simple story. Two soldiers each with a wound on 30 day home leave; and Tim Robbins who is also injured, but is mustering out. The story, though slow by 'action hero' standards...no flying, hurtling autos landing in fiery crashes...is nevertheless a "page turner". You can't leave the story for a minute. You have to see what happens next. This is good writing, acting, directing, and filming. We get to know each one of them very intimately. We hurt when they hurt, we laugh when they laugh, we cry when they cry, we exalt when they exalt. The term 'simple story' just does not do this film justice. It is far deeper than you would think. it will last as one of the great movies. True art , it has been said, is when a particular age, a specific culture is reflected and frozen in time for all of us to look back on in a hundred years and understand completely what 'that era was about'. Congratulations to all involved in this bona fide masterpiece of contemporary cinema. My hat is off, and I bow to Tim, Michael, and Rachel and the writers who gave us a believable story about three real people, ordinary people like you and I, who just happen to be courageous and selfless enough to leave their lives behind for this nation. It is a story of three heroes, and it is done without any fiery explosions or special effects whatsoever. You will not regret a minute of this movie.
Summary of The Lucky Ones
LUCKY ONES - DVD MovieAn earnest if not wholly satisfying comedy-drama about an awkward homecoming for three dissimilar Iraq War veterans, The Lucky Ones works best as a vehicle for its interesting lead performances. Tim Robbins transcends his real-life, anti-war reputation by playing Cheever, a Reservist and decent fellow who is injured in Iraq when a porta-potty falls on him. Eager to see his family, he ends up on a road trip with two other soldiers trying to reach their own destinations. There's Colee (Rachel McAdams), a young and earnest woman who enlisted to escape family problems, endured a leg wound and is on her way to meet the family of her boyfriend, who was killed in combat. There's also T.K. (Michael Peņa), recruited from a poor family and granted a month's leave after becoming impotent from a wound. The odyssey these characters, initially strangers to each other, share is fairly predictable for anyone who has seen such classic vets-coming-home movies as The Best Years of Our Lives. As Colee, T.K. and Cheever travel together, they encounter what sometimes feels and looks like an alien landscape: people who patronize them, people who despise the war without an inkling of what it's like to endure it, and a host of other exploitative chuckleheads who just don't get it. Inevitably, the trio has only itself to rely upon, to share the knowledge of the war's reality and provide support in ways that are sometimes funny and sometimes poignant. Co-written and directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist), The Lucky Ones has a rambling structure that causes the film to lose focus. But its heart is in the right place, and Robbins, McAdams and Peņa play people one can care about as much as enjoy. --Tom Keogh
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