FILM REVIEW: JUST MY LUCK

By Jessica Reaves

Chicago Tribune Staff Writer

1-1/2 stars

Much ink and untold hours of meticulous public relations have been dedicated to Lindsay Lohan's attempts to escape the constraining (albeit lucrative) bonds of her child-star profile. If only someone had spent a fraction of that energy finding Lohan a worthwhile vehicle to launch her new "grown-up" persona, this might be a very different review.

As it is, the Lohan camp chose poorly, attaching the tabloid darling - who is not a terrible actor, and who, by some reports, redeems herself in Robert Altman's upcoming "A Prairie Home Companion" - to a flimsy, formulaic film. Its few saving graces include a drool-worthy wardrobe and a few slapstick chuckles.

"Just My Luck" is the story of Ashley Albright (Lohan), a bright young thing whose good luck is surpassed only by her own obliviousness to the misfortune of others. Fittingly, she works at a celebrity-centered public-relations firm, where her primary source of stress is party planning. The vapidity of her workplace is mirrored by her exchanges with co-workers, who are also, conveniently, her best friends: Dana (an affect-less Bree Turner) and Maggie (the truly dreadful Samaire Armstrong).

Lohan's other co-stars turn in uniformly bland performances; it's hard not to wonder whether this was a conscious decision, designed to let the queen bee buzz a bit louder. Chris Pine plays star-crossed love interest Jake Hardin, the self-proclaimed unluckiest man alive, who gets soaked in every rainstorm and ignored by every cab. He meets and makes out with Ashley (within roughly 15 seconds) at a high-octane party. Their saliva-swap not only allows their germs to meet cute, it also magically transfers her luck to him. That means Jake nabs a great job and can hail a cab by lifting his pinky, while Ashley's now on the receiving end of those pesky rainstorms. (The characters' "luck," or lack thereof, is so superficial that it's tempting to chalk most of it up to stupidity and/or clumsiness. It also raises the question: What would either of them do in a situation that was not just inconvenient but actually difficult? Don't bother asking yourself these questions; the filmmakers certainly didn't.)

As the sometimes-lucky man in Ashley's life, Pine is attractive enough, and he has very impressive eyebrows, but he's so lacking in charisma - and Lohan clearly doesn't care what's going on as long as the camera is getting her best side - that their love story fizzles before it ever starts. As record mogul Damon Phillips, Faizon Love appears to be reading from cue cards, and Missi Pyle is a total caricature as Ashley's evil boss.

Presumably, this movie was designed to be a fun romp, and in that it fails. Directed by Donald Petrie, the man behind the equally cheerless "comedy" "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," this movie goes on too long in the course of achieving absolutely nothing. And that's bad luck for everyone.

"Just My Luck"

Directed by Donald Petrie; screenplay by I. Marlene King and Amy B. Harris; photographed by Dean Semler; edited by Debra Neil-Fisher; music by Teddy Castellucci; production design by Ray Kluga; produced by Arnon Milchan and Arnold Rifkin. A Twentieth Century Fox release; opens Friday, May 12. Running time: 1:48. MPAA rating: PG-13 (some brief sexual references).

Ashley Albright - Lindsay Lohan

Jake Hardin - Chris Pine

Damon Phillips - Faizon Love

Missi Pyle - Peggy Braden