The Lucky Ones - A Movie Review

War is messy. Life isn’t perfect.

The Lucky Ones is a 2008 film about three soldiers who return to their normal lives after finishing service in the war. As they rediscover their lives, the trio decides to stick together.

We cross paths with people for a reason. The Lucky Ones is an underrated travel, friendship, and self-discovery film about three soldiers. Any active service members should watch this film if they’re feeling lost. Change is scary, but having friends at your side makes life’s difficult moments easier.

Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, and Michael Peña star as soldiers. They develop genuine personalities and in-depth stories of these characters. Each actor did their own research for genuine portrayals of soldiers.

Most importantly, they do an outstanding job with their dynamic. TK (Pena) does not let his guard down, while Colee (McAdams) is an exuberant, open book, and Cheaver (Robbins) cares for his associates more than putting himself first.

The conversations they share are integral to their characters and how they view one another. They’re dealing with emotional issues in their own way. TK questions why Colee feels a certain way when he is struggling with a situation that diminishes his self-esteem.

I have always been a fan of McAdams' work. She takes a character off the pages and goes running. She trained for the film and spoke with real soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. Colee is the talkative one of the trio, but be careful, she fires like a cannon if anyone messes with her. She is a fighter.

While on their travels, the trio meets several people. Credits include Molly Hagan, Mark L. Young, Howard Platt, Spencer Garrett, Arden Myrin, and the late John Heard. Meeting new people in your travels is a guarantee. Their roles in the army have an impact, though it’s not always good. Upon learning they’re army members, certain people test their values.

The Lucky Ones is a traveling movie. Locations are the utmost important part since the characters have been stuck in one place for some time. Now that their duties are complete, the idea of readjusting to the world is daunting.

The film was mostly shot in Chicago, Grand Junction in Colorado, and Las Vegas. There are great tracking and location shots of roads, open mountains, and cities. As noted, the actors had a lot of car time. I have come to enjoy road trips more over time. The roads the characters travel on represent the roads we’ve come from.

Neil Burger created a film about human interactions. The Lucky Ones is an empathetic story that portrays war heroes whose mental health is overlooked. Films about soldiers in post-service are important films. Soldiers never know what they’re coming back to.

While a lot happens on this trip, the film slows down in the second act. Writers had a ball with the story and kept it moving. First, they got locked out of their car on the side of the highway, got chased out of a party, and experienced a twister - yeah, that moment jumped the shark.

The film has its own sense of humor, a dark one. That’s what I enjoyed about the conversations. The Lucky Ones is a lighthearted angst, less of a film about war, and more about human connection. Human connection is what everyone needs, and The Lucky Ones advocates a sincere message.

War veterans should watch The Lucky Ones. It’s a heartwarming film about friendship. And it’s another underrated gem that needs an audience. No matter what happens, we’ll get through life’s hurdles together.