The Lucky One begins by telling the story of Logan Thibault (Zac Efron), a Marine serving his third tour in Iraq. The morning after an air raid, Logan finds the picture of a young blonde in the sand. When his search to locate the owner of the photo proves to be fruitless, he decides to pocket it in good faith. As a string of unfortunate events ensue, it starts to seem to Thibault that this picture is the only thing keeping him safe. Finally making it back state-side alive and intact, he realizes that beyond his German Sheppard, he no longer feels like a part of the life he used to lead. This spawns a quest to travel cross-country (by foot from Colorado to Louisiana) to find the woman he considers to be his lucky charm. Logan manages to track down Beth Clayton (Taylor Schilling), and by way of a very awkward first encounter, ends up landing a job doing dirty work for the dog kennel she runs with her grandmother (Blythe Danner) through their family home. Though at first it unnerves Beth how involved Logan becomes in her life, when certain things are ameliorated—like her turbulent relationship with her ex-husband (Jay R. Ferguson), or her son’s confidence in his musical abilities—she begins to let down her guard and enjoy his company. There is only one problem: she still has no idea why this mysterious, but delicious, creature made his way to her neck of the woods (and forgets to care for long enough to have one seriously hot make out session in an outdoor shower).

I cannot say for sure which element of the movie won me over more—the fact that Zac Efron (Hairspray, 2007) is half-naked for the majority of the lone steamy sex-scene, that it takes place in Louisiana, or my reverence for those serving in the military (anyone else notice something wrong with my priorities?). Whatever it was, this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One definitely ranks higher than the likes of his last three (Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John, and The Last Song), and did not fail to serve up Sparks’ fool-proof recipe of conservative cheese:

• 2 cups of hot co-stars (Efron and Schilling)
• ½ cup of a cute little kid (Riley Thomas Stewart)
• 1 tablespoon of humorous parental-figure (the ever classy Danner)
• 2 teaspoons of psychotic former love interest (Ferguson)
• A pinch of religion
• A splash of admiration for our nation’s Armed Forces

Time (and book/ticket sales) has demonstrated that Sparks knows how to tug at all of the right heart strings, and with the aforementioned ingredients, he got the job done. I have never picked up a Nicholas Sparks novel, so I cannot speak to his abilities as an author. However (and I cringe as I type this), I have seen all seven of his movie adaptations and can say this much—where the films lack in originality in terms of screenplay and overall theme, they more than make up for it in beautiful scenery. With the help of an original score by composer Mark Isham (Crash), the stage was set for cinematographer Alar Kivilo (The Blind Side and Taking Chance) to shoot romantic and serene shots of the bayou; doing the often ignored, more green side of New Orleans a great deal of justice.

So maybe Nicholas Sparks cannot seem to pen anything that does not ooze with Velveeta; fact is, tweens and their mothers alike enjoy the movies, and your girlfriend will, too.