Do you feel Lucky?

LOVE emerges from a war-ravaged soldier’s heart in the latest Nicholas Sparks film adaptation.

Directed by Scott Hicks, The Lucky One is based on the novel from the writer who brought us The Notebook, Dear John and A Walk to Remember.

Starring Zac Efron as US Marine Logan Thibault, his life is saved on two occasions by a photograph of a pretty girl he finds on the battlefield.

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When he comes back to the States with those battlefield nightmares still ever present, Logan decides the girl in the picture holds the answers.

Soon, he and Zeus, his faithful German Shepherd, head out to find her — on foot, cross-country - and a landmark in the background of her picture leads him to Louisiana.

He quickly discovers that the woman he’s looking for is kennel-owning Beth (Taylor Schilling), who lives with her young son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart) and mother Ellie (Blythe Danner) and is separated from her loutish cop ex-husband Keith (Mad Men’s Jay R Ferguson).

As luck would have it, they have a job open when Logan shows up with the well-trained Zeus at his side and as he’s unable to tell Beth about the photograph, he accepts a live-in job as the kennel’s handyman in a bid to get to know her.

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Naturally it isn’t long before Logan is bonding with Ben, charming Ellie and striking up a romance with Beth, which quickly gets him on the wrong side of Sheriff Keith.

But ever present is the conflict of how Logan should to tell Beth about the photo. For Beth, it’s slightly more — she doesn’t trust Marines for reasons that will come out later, and she doesn’t trust Logan’s story about why he’s turned up in town.

Efron and Schilling provide the chemistry this sort of movie needs, and it’s an entertaining though clichéd romantic drama that stays the right side of watchable thanks to strong performances from Efron, Schilling and a scene-stealing Blythe Danner.

While it’s certainly no Notebook, Sparks’ fans won’t be disappointed.