The Lucky Ones

Sgt. T.K. Poole, Sgt. Fred Cheaver, and Pvt. Colee Dunn all meet up at an airport in New York. When all flights are canceled due to a black out the three agree to rent a car and split the cost.

Pvt. Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams) might as well be walking around with a big huge flashing sign that says “I am in the Army, give me stuff”. She uses it to get a rental car, she uses it to get to visit someone in jail, she randomly brings it up in bars to get attention, she brings it up in church, and she probably talks about it in her sleep. How she just throws it around to get things, get attention, and then fights those that don’t give her all she wants I would think would be more offensive to those that serve than relatable. Besides this and her story about her friend with the guitar there is very little to her one dimensional character. Granted she did have a tough life; but there never is a breakthrough for her to understand why she does this.

Sgt. T.K. Poole’s (Michael Pena) main focus is getting his penis to work (which it hasn’t since it got hit with shrapnel. So he wants to find prostitutes in Vegas to help him get it going again before he goes home to his girlfriend. Towards the end of the movie you start to see him crack a little as he freaks out over having to go back to war for a third time and that his luck maybe running out.

Sgt. Fred Cheaver (Tim Robbins) is perhaps the character that you can connect with the most. He comes home to find out that his home is not how he left it. His wife has had enough and his son needs $20,000 to get into Stanford in just a few days or he loses his spot. So he has to figure out a way to get the money for his son and what he is now going to do with his life.

Perhaps this story could be touching and meaningful; taking a look at the confusion, depression, and hard times many of the soldiers can face when coming home from war. Instead what I got was annoying characters and a movie that drags.

Bonus Features – “A Look Inside: The Lucky Ones”