Review: Just My Luck (* 1/2)

JUST MY LUCK
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2



If you're really lucky, you'll find a way to avoid JUST MY LUCK, in which
Lindsay Lohan plays a parody of the once promising Lindsay Lohan. The movie
has aptly been called her last teen comedy, which it is, even if her
character is a career woman past her teen years. The script and the acting
in this bad slapstick have all of the maturity and finesse of any of the
generic teen movies.



All of this could be forgiven if Lohan could ever manage to make her
character the least bit likable, which she doesn't. An actress who was once
so charming in THE PARENT TRAP and in FREAKY FRIDAY, Lohan manages to lose
all of her appeal in this film. She speeds through her lines like she
doesn't care about them. She just wants to sprint through her dialog so she
can get finished and get back to her trailer. It should have been easy for
her to shine in the picture since her co-star, the ever forgettable Chris
Pine from THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT, and her supporting cast
are as bland as can be. All she would have had to do is to show off just a
bit of her talent, and she would have shined like a flashlight in a dark
theater. She is capable of it but never seems interested in trying, as if
someone forced her to do this movie against her will.



The premise for the picture, which wants to be the next FREAKY FRIDAY, is
that Lohan's character, a young professional named Ashley Albright, swaps
something with another character. This time it's not her body but her luck.
Although Ashley claims unconvincingly not to know about her luck quotient
(Albright is apparently an ironic name), she is the luckiest woman you've
ever met. When she heads into a rainstorm, the sun suddenly shines through.
And, when she steps into the street, money sticks to her shoes.



As Ashley's mirror image, Jake Hardin (Pine) has car after car splash water
on him in a veritable flood of liquid. And, when he finds free money and
tries to stick it in his pocket, he finds that it is covered in dog poop.
Fecal matter humor is featured in this script, which is low on ideas.



One kiss turns out to be enough to transfer all of Ashley's luck to Jake, a
process which they discover is endlessly repeatable. Once she has the
curse, you -- although not Ashley -- will be able to see trouble coming from
a mile away. Mirror -- she'll break it. Wet paint on bench -- she'll sit
on it. Pile of mud -- she'll fall into it. Hairdryer -- she'll shock
herself. Installing a light bulb -- ditto. It will be all you can do not
to yell out the next disaster before it happens, since all the disasters are
so obvious.



I remember, when I was watching the movie, reflecting that it did have a few
cute moments, but, for the life of me, I can no longer remember what they
were. I've already forgotten them. Hopefully, I'll soon be lucky enough to
have forgotten the entire movie as well.



JUST MY LUCK runs a long 1:42. It is rated PG-13 for "some brief sexual
references" and would be acceptable for kids around 7 and up.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 12, 2006. In
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.



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