“We're on a course that you could have never planned, into a future you never imagined. Where will it take you? That's the journey of our lives, our search for the light. But sometimes, finding the light means you must past through the deepest darkness. At least, that's how it was for me,” says U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault.

Nicholas Sparks’ most recent novel-gone-film takes viewers on this journey to find a light while enduring the darkness. The Lucky One debuted on April 22 and has since been charming viewers with Sparks’ effortless story lines and seamless transition from resistance to love.

Logan Thibault, played by Zac Efron, is a marine returning from his third tour in Iraq. He has been near death many times yet attributes his survival to a photo of a beautiful woman he discovered moments before his platoon was attacked. He searches for the owner of the photo but ultimately comes up empty and decides to keep it with him, supposedly keeping him alive.

Once home in Colorado, he deals with obvious stress and mental instability upon his transition back into normal society and decides the only thing to do is to set out in search of the woman in the picture, his “guardian angel.” He matches a landmark in the photo to one in Louisiana and sets out on foot to find her.

Logan manages to track down his good luck charm, Beth, and finds that she not only owns a dog kennel but wants nothing to do with any marine, much less him. She mistakenly assumes he is there for an ad they ran for a job opening and despite her efforts to get rid of him, he is soon working at her side.

He tries to explain to her why he was so adamantly in search of a woman he didn’t know anything about besides what he could see in the picture, but time and again is unable to come up with the words.

Through a developing relationship with her son Ben and his good looks and charm, Logan is on a mission to win Beth over while managing threats from Beth’s ex-husband directed toward both him and the custody of Ben.

This movie has everything you can ask for from a romantic yet dramatic while still comedic film:  the good looking suitor, Efron, the uninterested woman, Taylor Schilling, the hilarious elder, Blythe Danner, the adorably talented child, Riley Thomas Stewart, and the aggressive ex you love to hate, Jay R. Ferguson.  

The film delves into the depths of death, depression and aggression in relationships while maintaining hope through trust, love and humor.

Although I would definitely classify this film as a chick flick and can’t speak to its authenticity in relation to the novel, I would still recommend this movie to anyone in search of a good movie.

It will make you laugh, it might even make you cry, but it will surely make you hope that someday you find your lucky one.