The list of movies about American soldiers fighting in Iraq continues to grow. The latest addition is The Lucky Ones, a saga about three GI’s heading back to the states -- two on a 30-day leave, one done with his service. When their connecting flights get delayed, they go in together on a rental car and begin a road trip that’s neither entertaining nor interesting. In fact, some people leaving the screening I attended commented that “the lucky ones” were those who chose not to see this movie.

Once on their way out of New York, Colee (Rachel McAdams), Cheever (Tim Robbins) and TK (Michael Pena) begin to learn about each other. Colee is headed to Las Vegas. She’s taking a guitar that belonged to her buddy -- who got killed in Iraq -- to his parents. TK can’t wait to meet up with his girlfriend, but welcomes the diversion of the trip while he figures out how to tell her he got wounded and can no longed have sex. Cheever is excited to be heading home to St. Louis where he can reunite with his wife and son after a two year absence.

All three of the vets suffer physical ailments. TK got hit with shrapnel. Colee is nursing an open wound on her thigh from a bullet, and Cheever has back problems. Their emotional wounds are far deeper, however, and they’re barely out of New York before TK insults Colee, and the two are in a fight so physical Cheever has to pull off the road to separate them. Naturally, he locks the keys in the car -- and here’s the first of many, many contrivances which pop up along the way.

Finally, the three arrive at Cheever’s house. He plans to take his comrades to the airport so they can catch a flight to Vegas. Things change when Cheever’s wife tells him she wants a divorce. His son gives Dad good news, he’s made it into Stanford, but, he needs $20,000 for tuition. Unprepared for both announcements, Cheever informs TK and Colee he’ll take them to Vegas.

With each incident the trio experience, the trip becomes more ridiculous. Instead of facing their objectives with the tactical strengths they should have learned in the military, these three act like goofballs we’d see in a movie like American Pie. In one town, Colee jumps head on into a bar fight. In another, she drags the guys into church and confesses to the congregation that TK can’t have sex. Then she accepts an invite to a swanky barbecue where a husband catches Cheever in bed with his wife -- and he doesn’t even care! When TK can’t decide if he wants to go back to Iraq or defect to Canada, he confesses to a robbery so he’ll go to prison, leaving his car pool buddies to figure a way out of that one.

Sadly, McAdams (Red Eye), Robbins (Catch a Fire) and Pena (Shooter) fail to offer believable performances here, so I felt no concern about their characters. Colee acts like a spoiled teenager on her first roller-coaster ride. TK is spineless, unable to set a game plan and stick to it. Because Cheever shows little reaction to anything that happens during the entire trip, he might as well be a fly stuck on the windshield.

One thing about this film really upsets me. I think soldiers returning home want the safety and normalcy of their homes. It’s doubtful they would find themselves on a stupid road trip to nowhere with people who lack any traits of trained professional military personnel.  Soldiers don’t run from their problems; they face them head on.

However, my biggest disappointment with this movie involves the script by Neil Burger (who also directs) and Dirk Wittenborn (Fierce People). Burger gave us the delightful Illusionist, a 2006 film with a great story, wonderful production values, real emotion and exceptional performances. None of these elements appear here. The movie’s tag line, “Sometimes losing your way home means finding yourself,” never came to light in the characters I saw in The Lucky Ones.      

(Released by Lionsgate and rated “R” for language and some sexual content.)

Review also posted on www.reviewexpress.com.