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Spoiler Points for The Lucky Ones (2008) [R] 115 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
DVD Release Date: Unscheduled (please check back)
Spoiler Points for The Lucky Ones
The Main Characters:
• Colee (Rachel McAdams)--the youngest and funniest of the group, wounded in the leg, and out on 30-days leave to visit family. She's loyal, but comes across as less worldly and savvy as her compatriots. Her mission is to return the guitar of her fallen comrade from Las Vegas who claimed it had been in the family for three generations since it was given to his grandfather by Elvis or some such story. She was told it was very valuable, and she couldn't live knowing that it wasn't returned to the family.
• TK (Michale Peña)--the most confident of the group, wounded in the groin and currently unable to 'perform' up to his expectations, he's also on 30-days leave, and planning to head to Las Vegas to meet with some paid-pros who claim to be able to assist in his personal problem before venturing home to visit his very demanding girlfriend. He's got big, big plans to capitalize on his obvious leadership skills in business and politics when he gets out.
• Fred Cheever (Tim Robbins)—the old guy in the group, he's been discharged from the Army after 20 years and is ready to return home to St. Louis to be with his family.
The Story:
• All three end up on the same plane back to the USA from Germany. Unfortunately, when they land, there's been a huge power outage on the East Coast, and all flights have been grounded or delayed. Cheever gets the idea to rent a car and drive to St. Louis. Colee and TK get the idea to tag along and share the expenses figuring they can fly to Las Vegas from St. Louis just as easily. Cheever agrees to the plan not realizing how invaluable they will become later.
• Along the way, they run into just about every possible public sentiment about the war in Iraq from the obligatory "Thank you for your service" to the "The war's a disaster and you people are fighting a losing battle". They also begin to bond and learn about each other. It a very short amount of time, complete strangers become complete best friends.
• When the arrive in St. Louis Cheever's wife announces she's divorcing him to be alone which she's grown to like and his son greets him with exciting but costly news that he's gotten into Stanford on a scholarship and only needs $20K for the rest of his tuition. Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to get his old job back because the company's gone under in his absence.
• Colee and TK calm him down, and he drives them to the airport claiming of plans to drive to Salt Lake City to visit his brother. They don't get too far, though, before they realize he's in no state of mind to do that. So, they come back and agree to continue the road trip to Salt Lake. Cheever is a bit wary, but goes along with it.
• Cheever takes a bunch of his pain pills. Colee assumes he's overdosed. TK is driving in the middle of nowhere lost. They get into an accident, TK is almost killed, and Colee's wound opens up and needs immediate medical attention. They wake Cheever, head to a clinic, and TK does the bandage on Colee himself.
• They go to get the car fixed.Cheever is mad because he cannot afford all this, and Colee disappears into a church across the road. In church, Colee announces all their troubles, and a rich guy from town invites them to his birthday party that evening in Kansas City. They are reluctant to go, but go nonetheless.
• Once there, Cheever gets picked up by a married woman. Her husband comes in on them, so he flees taking Colee and TK with him.
• In Denver, she takes in the guitar and finds it's worth at least $20,000.
• Cheever's son Scott calls to tell his dad not to worry about the money. He'll just sign up for the army and get the money that way. Cheever is furious. He doesn't want his son in the army. TK suggests that Colee give Cheever the guitar so he doesn't kill himself. Cheever decides he'll go with them to Vegas and win the money skip Salt Lake City. Colee is conflicted, and to calm her down they agree to take her on a picnic.
• While exploring, Colee happens upon an RV of professional women who claim to be able to help TK. She takes him over and they agree to work on him for free. He says he cannot do it without more electrolytes in his system. He and Colee leave to get some stuff, and on the way are almost killed by a tornado. When hiding under ground in a tunnel so close and huddled together, TK's problem is solved. She's so happy. They return to pick up Cheever and head to Vegas. Along the way, TK worries about going back for his third tour and how long his luck will last.
• TK plans to fly home from Vegas, Colee plans to visit the parents of Randy's guitar, and Cheever plans to play roulette to win the money for Scott's tuition. On the way, Colee tells the story of how Randy robbed a small casino on Halloween and fled with his costume on down the street.
• In the airport, TK contemplates heading to Canada.
• Colee arrives at Randy's home and meets his parents who are thrilled she's come. She gives them the guitar, and they say they've never seen it before. Turns out that Randy also didn't tell her that he had a girlfriend and had gotten her pregnant before he left for Iraq. They invite her to stay for the rest of her leave. She thanks them but leaves. They give her the guitar.
• In the meantime, Cheever spots TK heading to jail. Cheever heads to the station to find out why TK's been arrested. Colee phones him and heads to the station. The three are reunited. TK tells them he confessed to the Randy's robbery of Lucky Jim's casino. It's perfect. He won't have to go back to Iraq. He'll use the time in prison to get his degree, and he'll be out in 18 months. Problem is that the captain discovers that Lucky Jim's and never been robbed. TK is released. TK breaks down and realizes how messed up he is.
• Colee gives the guitar to Cheever, but he refuses. He doesn't need it anymore. Turns out that instead of gambling, he just re-enlisted for a $20K signing bonus. So, he's got the money he needed.
• 26 Days later, they are all back together about to board the plane to Germany. Colee is learning to play Randy's guitar. TK dumps his fiancée. The plane flies off into the distance.
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