The Lucky One: A Mother-Daughter Review
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Scarsdale’s Deborah Skolnick and her daughter Clara who is in sixth grade went to the premier of The Lucky One. Here is a multi-generaltional perspective:
Zac Efron is an actor with an identity problem. Having shot to stardom as jock Troy Bolton in the High School Musical movies, he’s long been a pin-up boy for the training bra and Tiger Beat set. Yet the 24-year-old wants (and needs, for the sake of his career) to stir the passions of a more mature audience. So perhaps it’s no shocker he was drawn to his latest role—a former military man plagued by identity issues of his own.
In The Lucky One, opening today, Efron plays Logan Thibault, a Marine recently returned home from Iraq. He survived three harrowing tours of duty aided by a talisman — a picture he’d discovered in the rubble of a raid, depicting a lovely blonde. Now stateside and emotionally adrift, he sets off cross-country to locate and thank the woman.
What he finds, in the bayous of Louisiana, is Beth Green — a quick-tempered dog trainer with plenty of other people in her own metaphorical picture. These include Ben, her adorably mop-topped son with her bullying ex, and ‘Nana,’ (played by Blythe Danner), the wry grandmother with whom she and Ben live. Gone but keenly grieved is the brother Beth lost in Iraq.
Will Logan stick around, and put down some much-needed roots? Will Beth’s bitterness melt under the gaze of Logan’s limpid blue eyes? Far more intriguing to ponder than the predictable plot is Logan’s fourth tour of duty: Operation Turn Zac Efron into a Grownup. Our boy…er, man, obviously pumped plenty of iron to bulk up for this role; it’s been reported he put on close to 20 pounds of pure muscle. Other edgy touches include scruffy facial hair and a smattering of badass tattoos. In one particularly memorable scene, he unsnaps a bra strap with a single hand. Bra-vo!
Yet the greater challenge remains unanswered: Getting us to totally buy him as sizzling-hot sheet meat. The hard sell, sadly, backfires. Leaden love-scene dialogue is no help – lines like “You should be kissed every day…every hour,” elicited more snickers from those around me than the concession stand could ever hope to peddle. Equally heavy-handed are the many allusions to chess, card games, and rickety bridges, representing the mysterious mixture of fortune and self-determination that guides our lives.
Viewers will be glad for the comic relief of Blythe Danner’s Nana, who gently goads Beth to give love a second try. Her koo-koo-ka-choo-Mrs.-Robinson winks and nods give the ladies in the audience—many of whom will doubtless be older than Efron—tacit permission to acknowledge that hey, he’s a hottie.
As I filed out of the theater, someone behind me told his companion, “Thanks for taking me to see this movie. I saw lots of previews and needed to confirm that it was as awful as I thought it would be.” Awww. But he was a man, of course. For women with a weakness for flowery love stories (and presumably there are plenty of us; the movie is based on a bestselling novel), this flick may be a satisfying journey. But I’m waiting for the day I see Zac Efron in a movie that showscases his talents to their fullest—something where he sings and dances, and romances in ways real adults actually do. That’s when I’ll feel like the lucky one.
From Clara Enders - Sixth grader at Scarsdale Middle School
The Lucky One was an interesting movie. The main reason I wanted to see it was to find out how Zac Efron has grown as an actor. The last time I saw him was in the High School Musical movies from Disney, which were amazing for me at the time.
The Lucky One is a love story too, but a different kind. It is about Logan Thibault, a marine who comes home after finding a picture of a girl right before there is an explosion. He believes that the picture saved his life, and the girl in the photo is his guardian angel. He makes it his mission to find her.
When he finally does, she is not who he thinks she is. Beth Green’s life is complicated: She is a single mom whose brother died in a war-as a marine. Her ex-husband is a total turtlehead. He makes it his goal to terrorize Beth, and threatens to take their son, Ben. Logan’s challenge is to find a place in Beth’s life, while putting his chilling war memories aside.
To be honest, I didn’t think highly of The Lucky One. I found the plot to progress too quickly and that caused it to not really make any sense. One day Beth hates Logan, then the next scene she’s madly in love. The ex-husband was such a one-dimensional bully that he didn’t seem like a real person. He even pulled a gun on Logan’s dog, which was just low. My favorite characters were Beth’s grandmother and Ben. Beth’s grandmother had some funny jokes, and kept Beth from taking herself too seriously. Ben was a really great actor, considering his age. He showed true emotion and acted with feeling.
I was especially disappointed by the movie’s ending because everything worked out perfectly. Overall, in its own twisted way, The Lucky One resembled a grown-up Disney movie.
Clara Enders is a sixth grader at Scarsdale middle school. Deborah Skolnik, her mother, is a senior editor at Parenting magazine.
Still Time to Sign Up for the PCF Battle of Bands on Thursday Night
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Pediatric Cancer Foundation is rocking to ‘80’s flavored funk as well as songs by the Beatles, Clapton, and Stones, Thursday, April 19, 2012, from 7-11pm at Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club, 555 South Barry Ave., Mamaroneck, NY. Four bands including The Del Bocas; Not Dead Yet; The New Irrelevants and Route 9 are donating their time and music to benefit children with cancer.
The keynote speaker will be 17 year-old cancer survivor and vocalist, Bianca Muniz. This adult only, denim chic attire evening will include a silent and live auction. To register go to: www.pcfweb.org/battle or call: 914-777-3127. Cost is $175 per person.
Sundance Cinemas to Open in Westchester
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Moviegoers will soon have another venue to see independent films nearby. This week, Robert Redford’s Sundance Cinemas announced that they will build and run and 8-screen movie house in Dobbs Ferry. The location is a new development called Rivertowns Square at the intersection of the Saw Mill Parkway and Lawrence Street in Dobbs Ferry (see map at right.) The Westchester cinema will be the fifth addition to the group who now runs theatres in Madison, WI, San Francisco, CA and Houston, TX and is currently building a theatre in West Hollywood, CA.
Plans for Rivertowns Square include restaurants, boutiques, a gourmet market, entertainment and luxury residences. The complex will be accessed from the Saw Mill Parkway and parking will be free.
Sundance Cinema will screen both independent films and the best in general releases. The theatre will offer drinks and food as well as 
reserved stadium seating. They will also host visits from filmmakers and exclusive screenings. Perhaps the best news for customers is that there will be no on-screen commercials!
The Sundance Cinema in Westchester will occupy 32,500 square feet of space and is slated to open in the Spring of 2014. Westchester is already home to two independent film venues, the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville and the Pelham Picture House in Pelham. And the development at Rivertowns Square sounds surprisingly similar to the newly opened Ridge Hill mixed-use plaza off Stew Leonard’s Drive in Yonkers which includes a Cinema de Lux, Lord and Taylor, Whole Foods, restaurants, shops and apartments.
It will be interesting to see just how much development Westchester residents can support.
Announcing the Jewish Film Festival at the Jacob Burns Film Center
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The Westchester Jewish Film Festival, with 33 programs that celebrate the diversity of the Jewish experience is coming to the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville in April. Included are some wonderful new films that come straight from Israel. In addition to a crop of fascinating documentaries and dramas there will be live appearances by more than a dozen guests.
Take a look at the entire line-up here http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/films/film-series/detail/43156 and reserve your tickets now as many shows are already selling out. This promises to be an extraordinary three weeks.
Special Offer: The Jacob Burns has been kind enough to giveaway 10 pairs of tickets to Scarsdale10583 readers to attend one of the following events. To win the free tickets, review the events below and be one of the first ten people to send your name, email address and phone number to: [email protected].
God’s Fiddler: Jascha Heifetz –April 12 at 7:30 pm
Film screening plus Q and A with filmmaker Peter Rose and Michael Boriskin:
God's Fiddler: When Itzhak Perlman met Jascha Heifetz, he thought, “I can’t believe I’m talking with God.” There was no one like Heifetz, the first modern violin virtuoso, legendary for his demonic speed and perfectionism as well as his stoic, even cold demeanor. His only film biography features home movies, interviews with great violinists, and the opportunity to get to know Heifetz a bit better, through footage shot over six decades all over the world.
Deaf Jam April 15th at 5:00 pm:
Film screening and presentation by filmmaker Judy Lieff with poets Aneta Brodski and Tahani Salah, who will present their extraordinary poetry. With ASL interpreter.
Poet Aneta Brodski, a deaf teen, expresses her passions and frustrations through the dramatic shapes and movements of American Sign Language. Boldly joining the spoken-word poetry slam scene, she creates stunning equivalents of rhythm and rhyme in her energetic performances. And when Aneta, an Israeli immigrant, joins up with hearing Palestinian slam poet Tahani Salah, there are no limits to their joyful art.
Paul Goodman Changed My Life: April 17th at 7:30 pm
Film screening and discussion with filmmaker Jonathan Lee and Janet Maslin:
Today, much of what passes as common knowledge in the fields of education, politics, psychology, urban planning, civil rights, and sexual politics was first posited by Paul Goodman. His 1960 Growing Up Absurd was a cornerstone of countercultural thinking; he co-founded Gestalt therapy;;he was candid about his bisexuality. All this—and more—comes to light in this rich portrait of an intellectual heavyweight whose ideas are long overdue for rediscovery.
Delicious Peace Grows in Ugandan Coffee Bean April 18 at 5:15 pm
Film screening and interfaith discussion with Rabbi Jason Nevarez (Temple Shaaray Tefila, Bedford Corners), Rev. Paul Alcorn (Bedford Presbyterian Church), and Dr. Kareem Adeeb (American Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies), with JBFC Executive Director Steve Apkon and coffee tasting!
Living in the wake of the Idi Amin regime of terror, a group of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Ugandan coffee farmers united to make a difference. They formed the Delicious Peace cooperative and joined up with Thanksgiving Coffee, which distributes their product in the US. Today, the farmers have an improved standard of living, and their message of peace and fair wages is spreading. An inspiring story of interfaith harmony and economic success.
Between Two Worlds: April 25 at 7:30 pm:
Film screening and Q and A with filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman
Who gets to decide what it means to be a Jew? Between Two Worlds takes on nothing less than the culture wars being waged in American Judaism—over censorship, ethnic continuity, Israel, the Holocaust, and more. Follow the filmmakers’ journey through their years curating the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and into a deep and thoughtful exploration of today’s passionate debates.
Dolphin Boy: April 29 at 5 pm:
Film screening and Q and A with filmmaker Dani Menkin
An emotional documentary that allows us to follow an almost magical healing process in real time. After suffering a brutal beating, an Arab Israeli teenager recovers from his physical injuries but remains mute and disconnected from the world. His doctors are talking about institutionalization. Instead, his desperate father takes him to the Red Sea for an extraordinary dolphin-based form of therapy, where he’s cared for by a team led by a Jewish doctor.
Kafka’s Last Story: May 1 at 5 pm: Film screening and Q and A with Brian Ackerman of the Jacob Burns Film Center and rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz
When Franz Kafka died, he told his friend Max Brod that “all that is left in my estate must be burned completely, without reading.” Not only did Brod plainly ignore the writer’s last wishes, but he managed to take a bag crammed full of Kafka’s papers with him when he fled Prague for Palestine in 1939. The film follows the manuscripts on their subsequent twisted journey, a gripping legal and moral battle whose absurdity Kafka would surely have appreciated.
The festival funs from April 11 through May 2nd. To reserve tickets for these and other films at the festival, go to: http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/films/film-series/detail/43156. And to enter to win a pair of free tickets, send your name, email, address and phone number to [email protected].
The Hunger Games Premiere
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For Scarsdale teens and tweens, the 12:00 am premier of the movie The Hunger Games on Thursday night March 22 was a big event. Greenacres’ mom Leslie Rainer decided to let her daughter Kelli and friends attend and stay up until 3 am to see the movie. Here is her account of the big night and below that find some comments on the film from Clara Enders, a sixth grader at the Scarsdale Middle School.
(From Leslie) From the moment we arrived in the parking lot at City Center, teenagers were surrounding us saying enthusiastically "Happy Hunger Games." Throughout the course of the evening, I came to realize that "Happy Hunger Games" is essentially the new hello greeting. Quotes from the movie were used repeatedly among this teenage, cult following. "May the odds be ever in your favor" and "let the games begin" were among the commonly used expressions. My group of tweens was as excited, if not more, than the older teenage following. The movie itself did not disappoint. It was exciting, scary and captivating. The cast is phenomenal with Donald Sutherland as the evil Mr. Snow, Elizabeth Banks as the freaky looking, cheery Effie Trinket and Woody Harrelson playing drunken Haymitch. The best part was watching the adorable Liam Hensworth playing Gale. We all just wished he had a bigger role!
We purchased the tickets online over a month ago, the second they went on sale. Kelli was checking every day so she did
It was an unbelievable experience, one which the girls will remember for years to come. I heard one of them say "this was the best day of my life."
And for those who are wondering if the film is appropriate for younger children, here are some thoughts from Clare Enders, a sixth grader at Scarsdale Middle School.
Exactly 142 days ago I discovered The Hunger Games movie website. Ever since, I’ve been counting down the days until the premiere. Imagine how excited I was when my mom got us passes to see it early, this past Monday night! I was extremely excited to see how my favorite book would be as a movie.
For those of you unfamiliar with the book series, it follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the futuristic civilization of Panem. Every year in reminder of the rebellion against the Capitol, two boys and two girls from each territory (district) are chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, a battle to the death. There are 12 districts, so there are 24 children in total. The winner is showered in money, better food, and nice housing arrangements, but not without the gory images of fellow contestants dying.
The books gathered a major following, and spent more than 180 consecutive weeks on the New York Times’ bestseller list. Since the series has so many fans, it is important that the characters look in the movie as they are described in the books. I think the actors and actresses looked as I imagined them, with just some small differences. In particular, Foxface (Jacqueline Emerson) and Katniss (Jenifer Lawrence) looked exactly as I expected.
One of the major factors that helped tie the movie together was the spot-on acting and the amazing attention to detail. All of the actors in the movie must have read the book, because they portrayed the same personalities as the characters in the book. The words they said really came from the heart, and didn’t sound as though they came from some piece of paper. I found myself absolutely bawling when young District 11 contestant Rue (Amandla Stenberg) dies, because it was just so believable. The thoughtful attention to detail was a main reason this scene worked so well: the wildflowers, the lullaby, the spear; all were things from the book. This may be one of my favorite scenes I have ever seen in any movie.
Violence could be a large worry for the parents whose children want to see the movie. My sense was that there is less blood and violence in the movie than there was in the book. I had read the book, so I was able to anticipate what would happen next. There will be blood. There will be dead bodies. Some may see it as just disgusting, but it is just part of the essence that makes The Hunger Games The Hunger Games. The movie is probably too intense for a child younger than grade four.
Overall, I think the movie really captured the spirit of the book. Sure, it’s 142 minutes (two and a half hours), but it’s worth it. Author Suzanne Collins also helped write the screenplay so that no key events are missing. Ultimately, I thought it was a fantastic movie that would appeal to all: fans of the book and parents who take their children.
Clara Enders, 11, is a sixth-grader at Scarsdale Middle School.
