register |  login
› HIGHLANDS RANCH
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
RECENT STORIES

'Just My Luck' is not just another remake

Contributed by: Jeffrey Schwartz on 5/16/2006

Directed by Donald Petrie
Grade: B+

What would happen if, by chance, you met a person completely opposite from you and you both switched places? What would you do? How would you deal with yourself each day?

I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, "Gee, that sounds like the plot of ______," and you'd be exactly right if you picked either Freaky Friday, Like Father Like Son, Dream a Little Dream or Vice Versa to fill in the blank. You'd even be right if you chose Just My Luck,Lindsay Lohan's newest film that was just hit the theaters.

Meet Ashley Albright (Lohan). She's the luckiest woman that you'll ever meet. If it is raining outside, the rain stops the second she walks through the door. If she needs a taxi in New York City, all she has to do is whistle for one and five stop for her. If she buys a scratch game ticket, she's a winner every time.

As the story starts, Ashley is an administrative assistant in a New York marketing firm. A record label mogul, Damon Phillips ( Faizon Love) wants to have a promotional party, but all of the marketing team is stuck in an elevator, late for the meeting. Ashley steps up and makes her own pitch on behalf of her bosses, and Damon falls in love with the idea. Ashley finds herself suddenly promoted and in charge of the biggest bash of the year.

Now, meet Jake Hardin ( Chris Pine). He's the unluckiest man that you'll ever meet. If it is sunny outside, it rains the second he walks through the door. He's got an arrest record a mile long, but his rap sheet is made up of him as a guy simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He finds a $5 bill on the ground, only to find that it is covered in dog feces. If he bends over, he rips the seat of his pants.

As the story starts, Jake is the maintenance man at a bowling alley trying to promote a new band by the name of McFly. Jake is trying to get Damon to listen to McFly's music, and due to a case of mistaken identity, is able to access Ashley's big bash.

Ashley and Jake meet on the dance floor of the party and share an intimate kiss. Suddenly (very suddenly), Ashley is the unluckiest person in the world. She breaks a heel. Her party is busted by the police, and she and her boss Peggy ( Missi Pyle) are arrested and hauled off to jail. Her apartment is flooded and she's homeless. Meanwhile, Jake's now the luckiest guy in the world. He saves Damon's life at the party, Damon feels indebted to him, and agrees to meet with McFly. He's offered a princely apartment with everything he could ever ask for provided to him.

For the most part, the story is predictable. However, that shouldn't discourage you from seeing this movie. In reality, Just My Luck is a better film than most of its counterparts were. While Lohan's voice can get squeaky and annoying in places (she somehow manages to keep that squeaky voice that she had as a young child in the remake of The Parent Trap), she's a good actress with enough talent to make the role believable. Pine was very good and provided enough comic relief to keep the film moving. You feel badly for him as, for some reason, you relate to the troubles that he goes through.

The story is also warm, which was unexpected. In most cases, you would expect Jake to go crazy with his newfound luck. Actually, the opposite occurs, as he demonstrates time and time again his compassion and what a good, decent person he is. At the same time, Ashley does get a bit panicked with the loss of her luck, and the story gets entertaining when she attempts to recover it. We are treated to her significant character development and growth, although, like the movie, it is hardly original.

Just My Luck has a good laugh factor. The audience would laugh out loud at points, and enough other times where we weren't laughing, but did have to keep smiling throughout the film.

While you might think that you could figure out the ending without seeing the film, you're probably wrong. The writers (they are numerous) did a great job of adding enough of a plot twist to keep Just My Luck from being just another remake of a dozen other stories previously told.

In all, I would say that Just My Luck is worth the price of admission, although I'd probably opt to see it as a matinee versus a full-price ticket. I am looking forward to the DVD release, and hope that it includes a gag reel.


SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story



Current Rating
Based on 2 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Jeffrey Schwartz

Highlands Ranch , CO

Jeffrey Schwartz has posted 38 stories and 49 comments since joining on 12/1/2005. Jeffrey Schwartz 's average story rating is 4.99.
SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY
STORY RSS FEEDS
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos