I'm watching this movie in 2019 as a fan of Chris Pine, not Lindsay Lohan. I've never seen Lohan in anything before and I can't understand the bad reviews. Her performance here is fine, with the exception of the bacon scene where she doesn't look hungry, but doing multiple takes of eating scenes is hard on actors. Her bad reviews seem to coincide with her name appearing in the tabloids around that time. Considering recent news coming out about widespread abuse of children in Hollywood, I have a lot of empathy for child actors and would cut her a break.
Ashley (Lohan) is a very lucky young lady who does not think she is lucky. She just feels entitled to have everything go her way, from getting cabs to finding money. Until she loses her luck. There is a lesson here for those who wish to see it, but it's totally possible to watch this slapstick comedy without any serious reflection at all.
In contrast, Jake (Pine) is a very UNlucky young man for whom everything goes wrong and he cannot even cross the street from home to work without getting bird crap on him and nearly run over by a car. (The way that driver cursed at him is very New York.) Jake is almost too good to be true, maintaining a positive attitude and amazing persistence in the face of constant disaster. He is perfectly sweet to his young cousin Katie, who also has lousy luck. His constant bad fortune makes him empathize with others who are down on their luck. There is a lesson here, too, for those who wish to see it.
Ashley and Jake exchange luck with a kiss at a masquerade ball and there is another lesson here, in how much difference a little luck can make in a person's life. Luck can be the difference between a janitor job cleaning backed-up toilets and a wealthy life as the manager of a rock group (Jake). Luck can be the difference between that same disgusting janitor job and Vice President of a PR firm (Ashley) where throwing A-list parties is "work." Same person, same skills, same personality. Just different luck.
To Jake's credit, he remains sweet after his sudden good fortune. To Ashley's credit, she realizes that living a charmed life isn't much fun if the people she cares about do not share in it. And it is to both their credit that they voluntarily give the luck to someone who needs it even more than they do, the little Katie.
Okay, I understand that the filmmakers wanted to produce screwball physical comedy, but it was sometimes too contrived. That scene of Ashley dancing with the floor-polishing machine was funny but after losing all her shoes in her flooded apt, there's no way she'd have worn those ridiculous slippery heels to that job. Also, dropping her last contact lens into the litter pan might be bad luck, but picking it up and putting it back in her eye without rinsing it in disinfectant is plain stupid.
Not everything is based on luck. Jake's knowledge of music and his persistence are independent of luck. Ashley got her big break due to luck, but she was prepared enough to improvise a PR plan to a major client, given the unexpected opportunity.
Both Jake and Ashley learn to be better prepared about things in general, to leave less to luck.
That studio shared by Ashley's friends Maggie and Dana is much more realistic about housing in NYC than "Sex and the City," which is particularly referenced here.
It is interesting to see the contexts in which people say things like, "When one door closes, two others open" and "the wheel always spins back." They are said by people who have suffered misfortunes and are desperately hoping that things will improve.
I am in that situation right now. That must be why I keep watching this dvd, hoping that my luck will change. It is a fun, light comedy that can be watched and enjoyed many times.
It is fascinating that the careers of Mr Pine and Ms Lohan went in opposite directions after 2006, exactly as depicted in this movie. Eerie.
Chris Pine seems to really enjoy doing physical comedy. I did not know how good an acting job he did in this one until I tracked down a copy of "Confession," where he plays a very dark character, also convincingly. I think he would like to do more of those, too, instead of being cast mainly for his beautiful face.
The character Damon is really funny. I have no idea if bigshot music producers actually act like that, but I hope they do.
Finally, this film also works as an introduction to the real-life band McFly. What a fun idea, to make a film about a band where the musicians play key roles but do not have the burden of carrying the film. We can enjoy their music while spending most of the film watching the professional actors. The band's performance was fine. I picked up their album after watching this movie.
