LOS ANGELES (AP) - Zac Efron isn't finding much luck with the critics as his latest film, "The Lucky One," opens to pretty poor reviews.
In the latest adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks romance novel, Efron stars as U.S. Marine sergeant who tracks down a beautiful blonde (Taylor Schilling) whose photograph he believes saved his life in Iraq. AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire didn't hate it, though, giving the film two and a half stars out of four. "In the hands of "Shine' director Scott Hicks, it does what it needs to do to please its target audience with a certain tasteful artfulness and the comforting familiarity of a 1950s melodrama," she wrote.
Also opening nationwide is the ensemble comedy "Think Like a Man," starring Michael Ealy, Taraji P. Henson, Meagan Good and Kevin Hart as singles caught in the battle of the sexes. Lemire also gave this one two and a half stars, saying: "What is essentially a shameless and overlong infomercial for Steve Harvey's dating advice book becomes more tolerable and even enjoyable at times with the help of an attractive, likable cast."
Here's a look at how these movies and others fared on the top review websites as of Friday afternoon. Each score is the percentage of positive reviews for the film:
- "Marley": Metacritic, 82; Movie Review Intelligence, 83; Rotten Tomatoes, 94. Average: 86.3.
- "Chimpanzee": Metacritic, 58; Movie Review Intelligence, 62.4; Rotten Tomatoes, 75. Average: 65.1.
- "Think Like a Man": Metacritic, 53; Movie Review Intelligence, 59.4; Rotten Tomatoes, 52. Average: 54.8.
- "The Lucky One": Metacritic, 38; Movie Review Intelligence, 43.2; Rotten Tomatoes, 22. Average: 34.4.
- "Darling Companion": Metacritic, 38; Movie Review Intelligence, 36.4; Rotten Tomatoes, 18. Average: 30.8.
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