Bree Turner as Dana, Samaire Armstrong as Maggie and Lindsay Lohan as Ashley in Just My Luck.
Everything changed in the wink of an eye.
Lindsay Lohan (“Mean Girls”) stars in this comedy about a lucky woman who accidentally swaps her good fortune for a stranger’s (Chris Pine) chronic misfortune. She plots against the guy to reverse her newly jinxed existence – until she finds herself falling for him.
In this comedy, Lindsay Lohan plays Ashley, a young professional just out of college. She also happens to be the luckiest woman in the world, who has lived a super-charmed life and has always taken her good luck for granted. When she kisses a handsome stranger (played by Chris Pine) at a costume party, Ashley accidentally swaps her good fortune for his horribly bad luck, and her charmed life turns into a living hell.
Ashley Albright (Lindsay Lohan) is the luckiest woman in the world, a person to whom all the good things in life have come far too easily. She can pick a lottery ticket at random and hit the jackpot. In New York, the world’s busiest city, Ashley never has to wait for a cab. And she has a terrific job as an account exec at a prestigious public relations firm.
Everything goes Ashley’s way. And now, she’s been given a great opportunity to advance her career: she is to plan a masquerade ball in downtown Manhattan for record mogul Damon Phillips (Faizon Love) and his company. Jake (Chris Pine), on the other hand, is a bad luck magnet. His skies are always raining; his pants are always on the verge of splitting at the seams. His job is cleaning toilets at a bowling alley. But even a steady bombardment of catastrophes doesn’t dim Jake’s dreams.
He thinks he may have his chance at the brass ring with his discovery of a rock band McFly. If Jake can keep his bad luck at bay for just one night, he’ll sneak into a masquerade ball and get McFly’s CD into the hands of music titan Damon Phillips.
On this night when dreams can be made or broken, fate brings Ashley and Jake together on the dance floor. Instantly taken with one another, they share an electrifyingly kiss – and with that one kiss, their luck switches places.
Chris Pine as Jake Hardin and Lindsay Lohan as Ashley Albright in Just My Luck.
Suddenly, Ashley’s dress rips. Her heel breaks. Her good luck seems to have finally run out. Jake, in his rush to catch Phillips before he leaves, ends up saving the record mogul’s life and earning with that one simple twist of fate, the chance to make all his dreams come true.
As Ashley desperately races to regain the luck she blithely took for granted, she begins to see that it’s not so much having good luck but what you do with it that counts, and that her greatest chance of redemption lies with the guy who holds the key to her sudden change of fate.
Lindsay Lohan shot to worldwide attention after having grown up before the camera – from her feature film debut as precocious estranged siblings in “The Parent Trap” to the acclaimed comedies “Freaky Friday” and “Mean Girls.” JUST MY LUCK’s Ashley Albright represents the actress’ first adult lead. “It’s a great story about coming of age and I thought it would be the perfect part for me to transition into adult roles,” says Lohan.
“Ashley has got her head on straight and she’s determined, which I think is great,” Lohan continues. “But she has never been tested; she has never known what it’s like to really work for something and through that experience learn what life is.”
“Lindsay has such a warm and likable screen presence that you can’t begrudge her character’s initial good fortune,” says co-screenwriter Amy B. Harris. “When Ashley is down on her luck and her life is literally falling down around her, Lindsay is able to bring a real sense of fun and broad physical comedy while still showing vulnerability.”
Director Donald Petrie felt Lohan’s performances in “Freaky Friday” and “Mean Girls” revealed a budding comedienne within her striking beauty. “Lindsay has a sparkling comedic talent,” he says. “Her ability to make physical comedy flow so naturally while also being funny and charming, makes her an absolute joy to have in front of the camera.”
Petrie has directed numerous actresses in breakout comedic roles, such as Kate Hudson in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” Sandra Bullock in “Miss Congeniality,” and Julia Roberts in “Mystic Pizza.” “I loved those movies,” says Lohan. “I love comedy and I really wanted to work with Donald on this film.”
Lohan found some of the physical comedy more challenging than she’d imagined. “You don’t realize how hard it can be until you’re actually there,” she says. “You’re reading the script and you say, `Oh, that’ll be so much fun to do,’ but then you perform the action or stunt, and that’s the hard part. But it’s fun when you can just let go and free yourself. It’s like therapy in a way.”
Chris Pine as Jake Hardin and Lindsay Lohan as Ashley Albright in Just My Luck.
Lohan’s on-screen leading man, Chris Pine, appreciated Petrie’s flair for physical comedy. “You know when Donald gives you direction that he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Pine (“Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”) plays Jake, who works at a rock-`n’-roll bowling alley while nurturing dreams of someday making it as a record producer. “Jake is a guy from a small town who finally made it to New York City and is swimming upstream with thunderstorms and lightning to make it,” Pine says.
“Jake is an unlucky schlub of a guy who, once it all turns around, you still believe will be dashing and charismatic without being arrogant about his good fortune,” adds co-producer Marjorie Shik.
Pine came to the filmmakers’ attention during video tests of young actors, from which he immediately stood out. “Donald saw something in Chris’s eyes that was about heart and warmth,” remembers producer Arnold Rifkin. “He approached the role with a wonderful, admirable spirit.”
“I think the saving grace of Jake is that he’s honest and optimistic,” Pine says. Jake’s relationship to 10-year-old Katy (Makenzie Vega, the young Nancy in “Sin City”) adds a dimension to his character that makes him instantly likable. “Jake has accepted his rather unfortunate plight in life,” says producer Rifkin, “being broke, looking after his young neighbor and cousin, Katy and helping her with her homework. He’s not angry. He has no concept of fate. He didn’t look for luck. He’s just assumed Murphy’s Law.”
“Katy’s his best friend,” says Pine. “In fact, she’s his only friend. Jake’s luck is so bad that he has no friends his age. Their relationship was easy for me to relate to because I have a wonderful sister I’m really close to who also happens to be named Katie.”
Missi Pyle, who is best known for her roles in the Tim Burton films “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Big Fish,” plus the comedy hit “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” plays Ashley’s boss, Peggy Braden, head of the prestigious PR firm, Braden & Co. Making sure Peggy’s needs are met is just one of the tasks at hand during Ashley’s big night at the masquerade ball, which must go smoothly for record producer Damon Phillips, played by Faizon Love (one of Santa’s helpers in “Elf”). All the New York glitterati are there. But closing in is Jake who is gambling it all on getting the CD of the band McFly into the right hands.
“In order to get into this big, beautiful Masquerade Ball, Jake has to pretend he’s a male dancer,” Pine says. “Jake is not physically inclined in the least, and neither am I, so it’s a nightmare to say the least.” But it all turns around when Jake is pushed onto the dance floor with Ashley. Moments before, Ashley had been warned by a fortune teller, Madame Z (Tovah Feldshuh), that those who don’t appreciate their good luck risk losing it forever. Ashley brushes off the advice, and joins Jake.
“It’s a bit of a lark for her,” says co-producer Shik. “She figures, `Sure, I’ll dance with this guy, why not?’ It’s nothing to her but for Jake’s character it’s a really daring moment because he’s been turned down so often. They just dance and get caught up in that moment and of course, kiss.”
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Samaire Armstrong, Bree Turner, Faizon Love, Makenzie Vega, Chris Carmack
Directed by: Donald Petrie
Screenplay by: Jonathan Bernstein, Mark Blackwell, I. Marlene King
Release Date: May 12th, 2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some brief sexual references.
Box Office: $17,326,650 (US total)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
