Teen idol Zac Efron is now 25, so time for a change of direction. To update his image let’s takes on the role of a marine in the Iraq war, in a film adapted from the Nicholas Sparks, writer of Dear John and The Notebook. Does it work? The result is a definite no-score draw.
Firstly the positive news Efron, hair shaved, pumped up and eyes glaring, does indeed look like a former marine who has two close shaves with death. In the first his platoon bump into another gang, who are both ambushed resulting in several deaths. Efron’s sergeant, Logan Thibault, then finds a laminated picture of a pretty woman, with the message keep safe’ on the back. On the way home Logan’s truck hits a mine he survives and becomes convinced the photo is a lucky charm.
Back in the US he tracks down the woman, Beth (Taylor Schilling), running a kennel with her mum (Blythe Danner) and young son. She assumes Logan is a drifter looking for work, and gives him a job cleaning and tidying up the farm. The ex-marine means to tell Beth why he is there, but can’t bring himself to.
Inevitably he falls for the hippy, pretty Beth, and she falls for his strong silent act, especially as she is being bullied by her former hubby. Will true love find a way?
The weakness here is certainly not the acting Efron changes his physique and body language successfully and is a fine former marine, while Schilling does her best as a dizzy blonde. The problem is the funereal pace how many shots of autumnal leaves and golden sunsets can you squeeze into 100 minutes? Also problematic is the portrayal of Schilling as a ditzy herb-growing young mum, who is sexualised at every opportunity how many pairs of hot pants does the woman own? And it’s autumn, not summer.
The story takes an eternity to go exactly where it looks like it’s going from the first minute, and the ending is a classic Hollywood cop-out. There’s also a lengthy sub-plot with Efron befriending Schilling’s young son and bringing out his musical talents, although there’s no evidence that Efron is actually playing the piano, and his dancing is deliberately daft.
The director is Scott Hicks, who made the glorious Shine in 1997 and has gone mainstream and dull ever since. If this is an attempt to bring the talents of Efron to a more adult audience it may succeed, if it’s an attempt to make an Iraq film people might actually watch it’s probably a failure. As a story in its own right it’s dull, slow and full of more clichés than you can shake a stick at and yes, I know that’s a cliché.
Overall verdict: Soapy, dreary romantic drama almost saved by Efron’s solid lead performance. He deserves better material than this.
Reviewer: Mike Martin