After classic romance movies like “A Walk to Remember” and “The Notebook,” who would have thought a Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie adaptation could leave so much to be desired? Well, it’s happened with Friday’s release of “The Lucky One.”

The Warner Brothers film stars former Disney heartthrob, Zac Efron, as Logan Thibault, an Iraq War veteran. After finding a photograph of a young woman during his third tour, Thibault becomes impervious to harm. He returns to the states determined to find the woman in the picture and thank her for saving his life. In typical Sparks fashion, Logan finds the woman, Beth (Taylor Schilling), in an obscure, yet beautiful, coastal Louisiana town without much effort at all-except for walking the whole way from Colorado. Inevitably, the two fall in love, and Logan helps bring peace and order to Beth’s life as a single mother, while her quiet life helps Logan readjust to being a civilian. Despite snags in their relationship-Beth’s jealous and controlling ex-husband, and the fact that Logan doesn’t tell Beth about the snapshot of her he had kept throughout his tour-you can see the happy ending coming from 20 minutes in.

Grossing $22.5 million to date, the numbers show that even big name stars like Sparks, Efron and Blythe Danner-who play’s Beth’s grandmother-couldn’t take the film above and beyond. Efron plays an attractive, sensitive ex-Marine, however it’s possible that he plays Logan a bit too well. Logan is a man of few words, and it would have been nice to see him smile more. A character such as his is difficult to appreciate at times. Men’s Health reports the actor put on 18 pounds of muscle for the role helping female audience members look past Efron’s darker role.

The shining stars of the film are the females, Danner and Schilling. Danner adds humor and sarcasm to the otherwise straightforward plot. Schilling portrays an amazing array of emotions in contrast with Efron’s character. From heartbroken to helpless to strong, Schilling hits her mark every time. She is truly enjoyable to watch, bringing life to the obvious plot.

“The Lucky One” definitely did not stand up to “A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook,” or even “The Vow,” but seeing Zac Efron in something other than a musical, alongside a great young actress, was refreshing. The breathtaking Louisiana landscape also makes it a cute date movie, as long as you realize there won’t be any surprises along the way.