Hollywood learned a hard lesson in the year between fall 2007 and fall 2008: Moviegoers do not want to see movies about the Iraq War. Not at all. Not even a little bit. We go to the movies to escape, moviegoers were telling filmmakers, and one of the things we would especially like to escape is thinking about this protracted conflict and its consequences. Yes, some of these films were dull and didactic (Lions for Lambs), and some were just bad movies, no matter what the subject (Redacted). But some worthwhile films were lost in that wholesale snubbing; some great (Stop-Loss), some very good (Rendition, In The Valley of Elah).

Neil Burger's The Lucky Ones came at the end of that cycle, and suffered a similarly predictable fate; it was in release for about a week, grossing a paltry $266,000 (on a $15 million budget). Its quick disappearance is unfortunate--while it's not a great film (it is too cluttered and too cliché-ridden for that), there's a lot of great things in it.

Though it begins in Iraq with a brief pre-title sequence, the bulk of the story takes place stateside. Three soldiers (two on leave, one discharged) are on the same flight home from a military hospital in Germany; when they arrive at LaGuardia, they find that all flights have been cancelled in the wake of a blackout. Luckily, they're all headed in the same direction (wouldn't you know), so they rent a car and hit the open road.

Yes, The Lucky Ones is a "road movie," with the expected detours at diners and motels and roadside bars; adventures are had, truths are revealed, lessons are learned. It is, to be frank, a bit of a convoluted construct, made worse by the over-plotting of the screenplay (by Burger and Dirk Wittenborn). Watching the film, it feels like the pair sat down and made a list of every single thing that could happen to the trio on the road, and were bound and determined to smash every single one of them into the film. It crowds the narrative, and also makes the film feel longer than it is.

It also lacks an overall sense of spontaneity. The trio encounters a myriad of complications that keep them plugging forward, but they don't feel like naturally occurring circumstances; they feel like the requirements of the screenplay, and sometimes we can hear the gears grinding on screen. The dialogue is frequently overwritten or too on-the-nose, pitching too broadly down the middle.

But all three actors are so gifted, they manage to make it all play. Rachel McAdams' Southern accent takes some getting used to, but hers is a warm, lived-in performance that could have easily degenerated into a stereotype. Michael Pena is a sturdy, believable presence as a bright but stubborn young soldier who sees the possibility of a career in the military while suppressing his terror at the thought. Tim Robbins' character is at the other end of that path, and suffering the consequences of it.

The three primary performances are all skilled and believable; all three wisely underplay instead of going for the histrionics. McAdams is especially impressive--no one may have seen the film in the theatres, but hopefully it will serve as a demo reel to get her out of the pretty-ingénue rut and into some more interesting roles. There are also some nice performances on the edges: John Heard has maybe a minute and a half of screen time, but he brings decades of playing ill-advised blowhards to the role, so he sells it. A third-act sequence wherein Adams visits the parents of a fellow, slain soldier is so delicately written and smartly played that it manages to circumvent the formulaic nature of the scene.

Burger (The Illusionist) and his cast pull that off more than once, broaching obvious moments with welcome touches of character comedy. No film like this can presumably exist without a townie bar brawl, but this one is so perfectly structured that they put it over anyway. Likewise, a party sequence at a fancy mansion takes an unexpected--and surprisingly funny--turn. In those isolated moments, The Lucky Ones works, though it can't quite manage to equal the sum of its parts.

Video:

The Lucky Ones is filled with splendid, picturesque cinematography, provided by gifted director of photography Declan Quinn (Leaving Las Vegas, Rachel Getting Married). His vibrant 1.78:1 images get a lovely anamorphic transfer here; colors are bright and skin tones are natural, with no artifacts noticeable. There is some film grain present (mostly in low-light situations), but this appears to be an (effective) aesthetic choice.

The 5.1 audio track is also quite good, with a nice spread of atmospheric sounds and crisp dialogue on the center channel. It's mostly a talky track, but the occasional bursts of effects (in the Iraq-based opening, during a car accident, and in an incident of extreme weather) are sharp and immersive.

Only one bonus feature of note here: the featurette "A Look Inside: The Lucky Ones" (15:32). It's your typical interview/behind-the-scenes piece, but it's also an unintentionally hilarious attempt at spin control; aware of the dire box office fate of their fellow Iraq flicks, nearly everyone involved goes overboard in their interviews to downplay the war angle ("It's not really about the war!") and play up the humor ("There are a lot of laughs in it!"). Aside from the stench of that desperation, this is actually a good-looking, well-cut promo package.

Lionsgate also includes the expected Trailers for some of their other new releases, along with the war-on-terror themed documentary Control Room.

Neither preachy nor pedantic, The Lucky Ones tries a bit too hard to please all audiences and ends up coming out a little too nice and neat. But it is a heartfelt and likable film, brimming over with warmth and fine performances, and sometimes that's good enough. Recommended.

Jason lives in New York. He holds an MA in Cultural Reporting and Criticism from NYU.