Just My Luck (2006)

Directed by: Donald Petrie | 103 minutes | comedy, romance, fantasy | Actors: Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Faizon Love, Missi Pyle, Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Harry Judd, Dougie Poynter, Samaire Armstrong, Bree Turner, Makenzie Vega, Carlos Ponce, Tovah Feldshuh

‘Just My Luck’ is a completely unpretentious film, where you should not let yourself be guided too much by thoughts like “Would it be like that in real life?”, because then you spoil it for yourself. The film is purely aimed at the female viewer of – say – ten to twenty-two and is ideal for a little less than two hours of fun with friends.

It starts off irritating: when we get acquainted with the lucky guy in the story, played by Lindsay Lohan (‘Freaky Friday’, ‘Mean Girls’) and the unlucky one, played by the relatively unknown Chris Pine (‘The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement’), the makers thought it necessary to accompany the images with the words “Lucky” (with Ashley “Lindsay” Albright) and “unlucky” with her male counterpart Jake Hardin. Very irritating, because the scenes are already clear enough and the audience will feel belittled, even if you are twelve. But other than that it’s an entertaining movie. Very predictable of course, you can see every plot change coming from miles away, but that doesn’t matter. There are quite a few comedic moments in it; even more so when you have to laugh at someone who falls face-to-face in the mud or finds a five-dollar bill wrapped in dog poop. The scene in the washroom is – while practically impossible – really humorous.

The funniest dialogue is probably the one where Ashley’s friends explain to her that she was really born for happiness because she became prom queen at a school she didn’t even attend. It is a fact that it is all very far-fetched. There is simply no such thing as someone who never has to walk in the rain, because by default the sun comes out when she comes out, always gets a taxi, always wins at scratch cards, and at a very young age, through one successful move, becomes vice president of a major marketing firm. It is also impossible that someone has had so much bad luck in his life that he decides to only carry a complete first aid backpack crammed with things to limit the nasty consequences of accidents.

It’s all over the top, but that’s what the script asks for, after all, luck and misfortune are what it’s all about in this teen comedy. The supporting roles are limited to those of Ashley’s girlfriends, Maggie and Dana, with the character of Maggie (Samaire Armstrong, who by the way strongly resembles a young Wendy van Dijk) is most deeply explored. Missi Pyle plays Ashley’s boss and Faizon Love is the boss of a major record company, which is actually the link between Ashley and Jake. A fairly big role is still reserved for the boys of the real band, McFly, who want to set foot in America and for which Jake has to take care of. The acting is very decent and the chemistry between the two protagonists is also good. All in all, ‘Just My Luck’ is nothing more than a feel-good movie for teenagers. Lindsay Lohan fans will get what they expect.