Just My Luck

Directed by Donald Petrie, Just My Luck follows Lindsay Lohan’s Ashley and Chris Pine’s Jake as their good and bad luck, respectively, is switched after a spontaneous kiss. Filmmaker Petrie, working from I. Marlene King and Amy B. Harris’ screenplay, delivers a mostly watchable yet thoroughly forgettable romcom that benefits from its brisk pace and affable performances, and it’s clear, certainly, that the latter plays an instrumental role in elevating the proceedings above its decidedly by-the-numbers material – with Lohan and Pine’s agreeable efforts, as well as their obvious chemistry together, generally smoothing over the narrative’s fairly frequent bumps and lulls. And although there’s never a point at which the picture rises above its disposable atmosphere, Just My Luck‘s high-concept premise is, for the most part, employed to pleasant effect and the proliferation of somewhat questionable elements, including ongoing appearances by an almost laughably stereotypical early 2000s band, never becomes quite as problematic as one might’ve feared – with the upbeat, satisfying climax, in the final analysis, cementing the movie’s place as a decent-enough endeavor that painlessly passes the time.

**1/2 out of ****