Who knew that PTSD is the secret to an ideal boyfriend? Or that "everything happens for a reason," in this case in order to maximize the bathos of Scott Hicks's adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks bestseller? On patrol in Iraq, Logan (Zac Efron, who's got the thousand yard stare down pat, but little else) picks up a photo of a beautiful woman and by so doing escapes a lethal explosion. Back home he finds it hard to adjust, so he sets off for a lushly photographed North Carolina to find Beth (Taylor Schilling), the girl in the picture. She thinks he's a little creepy, but after he shows off his pecs doing chores and proves himself in general to be Prince Charming, she warms to the guy, a definite improvement over her loutish ex. Urged on by Beth's cute son and by her grandma (poor Blythe Danner), the two succumb to the usual plot contrivances, emotional manipulations, and bogus platitudes that pass these days for narrative.
