‘The Lucky One’ sparks with romance and action

I saw The Lucky One and thought it was on the best films on survivor's guilt along with a case of mild Combat PTSD. St. Cloud survived but others died and he wanted to know why. He found a picture, stopped to pick it up and lived. He wanted to meet the woman he thought saved his life. It is really a great movie and not just a "chick flick" because when I saw it at the theater, there were a lot of guys there.

‘The Lucky One’ sparks with romance and action
“THE LUCKY ONE”

Blu-ray widescreen, DVD widescreen and Ultra Violet Digital Copy, 2012, PG-13 contains some sexuality and violence

Best Extra: “Zac Efron Becomes a Marine” in HD

THE LATEST NOVEL to film adaptation from writer Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook”) guarantees romance and friction will ensue.

Zac Efron’s (“Charlie St. Cloud” and “High School Musical”) character, Logan, is a U.S. Marine returning from his third and final combat tour in Iraq. While learning to cope with the aftermath of war, he decides to seek out a mysterious blonde woman (Taylor Schilling, “Atlas Shrugged – Part I”) whose photograph he found on a mission, and held onto as his good luck charm. “It’s a film that deals with fate and confusion. He [Logan] survived [in Iraq] and it doesn’t make sense, and he doesn’t know what to do,” Sparks explains in the “Watch the Sparks Fly” special feature.

Director Scott Hicks (“Shine”) knew Efron had the determination and skill to undergo the intense mental and physical transformation required for the character. The first step of the process required Efron to travel to Camp Pendleton, Calif., meet, and get to know a few sergeants from the 1st Marine Division. “In terms of character study and research, it was priceless. That became Logan. That’s everything that I was able to use for this movie,” Efron states in the “Becomes a Marine” feature.

Once filming commenced in New Orleans, Efron continued to work hard to maintain his physical appearance as a Marine for the film. During shooting, he woke up at 3:30 AM, worked out, and focused on his diet throughout the day. “When he [Efron] decided to do this [film], he pursued it in a really smart way,” producer Kevin McCormick explains in the “Sparks” special feature. “The work he began to put into physically transforming himself was very impressive,” Hicks says.
read more here

St. Cloud also did something that most veterans with PTSD do. They search for what will make them happy and to fill the hole inside of them.