The Lucky Ones : another kind of road movie

Sergeant Fred Cheaver (Tim Robbins) can finally look forward to a well-earned break after over two years fighting in Iraq. On his way back to the USA, he meets two other soldiers, Colee (Rachel McAdams) and TK (Michael Pena), who have been given thirty days' leave. Their airport stopover in New York gets longer and longer due to a series of cancelled flights and the soldiers decided to rent a car to get to their respective homes. The first stop is St. Louis, where Fred rejoins his family. But an unpleasant surprise awaits him: his wife is demanding a divorce...

"The Lucky Ones" was not a huge success on its cinema release in September 2008, perhaps because of the wavering public support for the US army's activities in Iraq. That is a shame, because above all this film is a high-quality road movie featuring a brilliant trio of actors.