Movie Review Just My Luck

Just My Luck (2006) 

Directed by Donald Petrie

Written by I Marlene King, Amy B. Harris

Starring Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Faizon Love, Missy Pyle 

Release Date May 12th, 2006

Published May 11th, 2006

In her first major role since becoming a weekly tabloid headline crasher, Lindsey Lohan takes on the eerily similar role of a flashy New York socialite whose life revolves around parties and guys in the farcical romance Just My Luck. The film is supposed to be a lighthearted romance but somehow Lohan's tabloid persona shades the film in an unflattering self parody of a woman who gets everything she ever wants and doesn't really appreciate it.

Just My Luck posits Ms. Lohan as Ashley the luckiest girl alive. Everything from the weather to every possible coincidence goes her way. She has lucked herself into a high profile, high paying job as a party planner and won the heart of an heir to a multi-million dollar fortune.

Ashley's luck changes when, during a party she planned for a record mogul played by Faizon Love, a tarot card reader tells her that the wheel of fate is coming around for her. Her luck is about to change. After the run in with the tarot card lady, Ashley hooks up with a masked man and shares a kiss before he disappears into the night. With the kiss the masked man took her luck and she took his.

That masked man was Jake (Chris Pine) who snuck into the party as a masked dancer to get the demo of his band McFly into the hands of the music mogul. Jake is a hard luck guy who has had nothing but bad things happen to him. After kissing Ashley he manages to save the life of the record mogul, get his band a record deal and just generally gets all he ever wanted.

Ashley then must find Jake, kiss him and get her luck back before she kills herself.

It's a cute premise, one that is right up the alley of director Donald Petrie who knows from cute premises as the director of both Miss Congeniality and How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. Petrie knows how to pull the strings on a mainstream romance but he often fumbles with a too precious execution. Just My Luck is yet another example of Petrie's inability to follow through on a clever setup.

It's not all the directors fault. Petrie could not control star Lindsey Lohan's constant tabloid appearances that make the film feel at times like a parody of her real life. A star of Lohan's stature is often associated with a life like Ashley's where they get everything they want, are pampered at every turn, have money to burn and spend every night living it up. There is a part of all of us I'm sure who might enjoy watching a pampered star get their comeuppance as Ashley does in Just My Luck. However because this is a romance with an easy forecast ending the comeuppance is obviously short lived.

Add to that the fact that because the character of Ashley never belies selfishness, bitchiness or any of the other trappings of the privileged we can't take any kind nasty pleasure in watching her get what's coming to her. Because Ashley is not a bad person to begin with she has no real character arc for us to sympathize with. She goes from a good person with luck on her side to a good person with no luck and back again only happier and in love. The role has no depth.

Chris Pine is a young actor of few credits but real stardom in his future. The kid has great comic timing, a self effacing air and that indefinable quality that separates actors and stars. Chris Pine is a name to keep an eye in years to come.

Lindsey Lohan is also a star but one whose choice of roles is becoming more and more questionable. Last years Herbie Fully Loaded was a huge step backward from her terrific work in both Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. Herbie made her a little girl again, a role she chafed against to the detriment of the film's family friendly exterior.

Just My Luck showcases Lohan's best and worst qualities. Her skill with physical comedy is crossed with her limited dramatic range leaving the performance somewhere in between goofy teenage girl and grown up actress.

Many critics are recommending Just My Luck for teenagers but watching the film with my precocious 13 year old niece Alexa and some of her friends I found that even that target audience is not going to be satisfied with this under-cooked premise and shallow celebration of upper class life.