Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Lindsay Lohan has oddly become an actress that studios are banking will earn them a fortune. After surprising many people with success in the Freaky Friday remake, and drawing many laughs for the great role Tina Fey wrote for her in Mean Girls, people falsely started to believe Lindsay was a bankable actress. This is in no small part a result of the extreme amount of publicity she gets for her personal life and everything going on outside of her film career. The only problem, is that outside a debate on any talent that she has, she keeps picking the wrong roles to take on in Hollywood. Her latest picture, Just My Luck is unfortunately going to quickly become one of those films that people will point to as proof that she cannot carry a movie. But not so fast, because the statistics may hold up this one with a more positive outlook than you would think at first glance.

Just My Luck stars Lohan as Ashley Albright, who has gone through life with luck always on her side. No matter what she does, who where she goes, luck seems to follow her around. She always seems to get a taxi when she needs one, scratch lotto tickets always seem to be winners for her, and the weather even clears up when she walks in the room. Her job is going well, and she is put in charge of a huge party where one of her firm's clients will be hosting. Through a second story that is being told at the same time, Chris Pine plays Jake Hardin who has gone his whole life with nothing but bad luck. He steps in puddles, has his pants rip at inopportune times, and is just a mess in everything that he does. Trying to get a record of the group he represents played, he ends up at the same party as Ashley, and through a coincidence ends up sharing a kiss with her. This kiss does more than give off sparks, because it switches who has the good, and who has the bad luck.

With their "lucks" reversed, Ashley starts having everything go wrong for her, and Jake starts pulling his life together with success he finds very quickly. Ashley has a very difficult time adjusting to the real world, and Jake almost doesn't know what to do with his new found good fortune. Having come to accept that bad things happen in life, he is completely surprised that things start working out for the better. Despite everything, they of course end up crossing paths again, which is where the second half of the film is able to get interesting. Up until that point we get to many displays of physical comedy, with a few laughs mixed in for good measure including Lohan. Some have compared Lohan to Lucille Ball in the way that she can pull of the laughs, but I personally think she has quite a long way to reach that stature.

Earlier I had mentioned that I didn't think that this film did as badly as people have talked about it. It only cost $28 million to make, and it has already made that back in box office receipts and DVD sales. In my opinion that isn’t a flop, but rather a step in the right direction for an industry that often thinks it necessary to spend $100 million in order to make a hit. With Just My Luck you get an immense amount of predictability, and there is a lack of great writing that keeps this film from being better than it turns out. Lohan is decent in the role, but I think that again, the writers could have done better to play to her strengths. Chris Pine on the other hand, could be a big thing in Hollywood if he can bank on what ended up being a nicely impressing role that he played. I actually found him to be the star of this film, and Lohan ends up making him look really good. The film is predictable, there are some really unrealistic moments, and of course there are a few that could make you roll your eyes. It is a below average film to say the least, BUT I do think it has a few redeeming qualities that make it worth that one viewing. It is recommended, but with a caution to not expect too much.






Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD