Just My Luck (2006 film)

Just My Luck is a 2006 American romantic comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, from a screenplay by I. Marlene King and Amy B. Harris, starring Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Faizon Love, Missi Pyle, and McFly. It tells the story of Ashley Albright who works in public relations and is the luckiest person in Manhattan, while Jake Hardin is a janitor and would-be music producer who seems to have terrible luck until their good and bad luck is switched upon kissing each other at a masquerade ball which changes both their lives and leads them to meet each other once again.

Plot
In New York, Ashley Albright works at Braden & Co. Public Relations and has an extremely fortunate life, experiencing recurring strokes of good fortune since childhood. In contrast, Jake Hardin experiences bad luck on a daily basis.

Jake is the unpaid US manager of the British band McFly. For weeks, he tries to get their demo CD to record label owner Damon Philips, hoping to get them discovered and become a music producer. After another failed attempt gets him arrested due to a misunderstanding, Jake sneaks into a masquerade ball put on by Ashley where he hopes to meet Phillips. During the ball, a fortune teller tells Ashley her luck will change. Failing once again to get Phillips' attention, Jake asks her to dance. They kiss, switching their luck in the process.

Outside, Jake saves Phillips from being hit by a car. To repay him for this, he takes the demo and invites the band to his studio. Meanwhile, Ashley and her boss Peggy are arrested because the neighbor she invited to be Peggy's date is a prostitute. She is fired by Peggy and spends a night in jail.

The next day, Ashley learns her apartment is condemned due to flooding and mold. Staying with her friends Dana and Maggie, she experiences more bad luck. Ashley tracks down the fortune teller, who suggests someone needed her luck more. She then realizes the stranger she kissed must have her luck.

Phillips is impressed with McFly and signs them. Meanwhile, Ashley tracks down every male dancer hired to work the ball, kissing them all. After this does nothing to restore her luck, hungry and overwhelmed, Ashley has a public breakdown at a diner where Jake is. Not recognizing her, he sympathizes with her frustration at constant bad luck, offering to find her a job.

Ashley takes Jake's former job at the bowling alley, and they become friends. When Jake is worried McFly doesn't have enough material for an upcoming gig at the Hard Rock Cafe, she introduces him to singer/songwriter Maggie. Impressed, he decides to use her song.

During a recording session, Ashley overhears Jake say he's been lucky ever since the masquerade ball. Realizing he was the masked dancer, she kisses him and leaves, finding her luck is back. Ashley runs into Peggy, who is now engaged to Antonio and offers to rehire her as the Vice President of Braden & Co. if she helps with a meeting that very night. Ashley then learns Maggie's song will no longer be performed at the concert.

Looking at a mirror she broke earlier, Ashley reflects on the cost of her good luck. Deciding to forego Peggy's meeting, she goes to the concert where Jake and the band are having bad luck and may have to cancel the concert. Ashley kisses Jake and circumstances change, leading to a successful concert where Maggie's song is performed. Realizing she's in love with Jake so doesn't wish to give him bad luck again, Ashley decides to leave the city to stay with her parents for a while.

Jake finds Ashley at Grand Central, realizing she is the woman from the ball. Since he used good luck to help others, she argues she doesn't want to take it away. Jake points out she experienced good things even with bad luck and says he is willing to experience bad luck again if they are together. They kiss, switching their good and bad luck back and forth.

Katy arrives and they simultaneously kiss her on each cheek, causing another luck transfer. She then wins a $25 lottery ticket. Jake and Ashley walk hand-in-hand, wondering if they will get used to living without luck and debating karma. Outside a construction crew accidentally break a pipe and water rains down on them, just as the movie ends.

Filming
Principal photography of interior scenes (such as Ashley's apartment and Jake's apartment) took place in New Orleans, Louisiana before Hurricane Katrina hit the area. In March 2005, exterior scenes were shot in New York City. NYC locations included: the apartment building 43 Fifth Avenue (originally constructed in 1905 by architect Henry Andersen), which has been the home to many celebrities including actresses Julia Roberts and Holly Hunter, novelist Dawn Powell, and screenwriter Noah Baumbach; Christopher Park in Greenwich Village (where Jake offers Ashley a job); the New York Palace Hotel (455 Madison Avenue, where the masquerade ball takes place); Central Park; Rivera Cafe (225 West 4th Street, where Ashley experiences a public outburst); and the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, where McFly's concert is supposed to take place. Filming also involved exterior and interior shooting at Grand Central Terminal for the movie's final scene.

During filming, Lohan sprained her ankle, making it difficult to walk for a time and preventing her from wearing heels.

Reception
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Lohan earned two Teen Choice Award nominations, Choice Actress Comedy and Choice Hissy Fit, and a Razzie Award nomination as Worst Actress. The movie was also nominated for Choice Chick Flick at the Teen Choice Awards.

Box office
Just My Luck opened at #4 at the North American box office with $5,692,285 in its opening weekend, May 12, 2006. In the US, it grossed $17,326,650. The film grossed $38 million worldwide.

Soundtrack
The album is made up partly of songs from McFly's first two albums, Room on the 3rd Floor and Wonderland, with the exception of the brand new track "Just My Luck", which was recorded especially for the film. Though released as the film's soundtrack, a selection of the songs featured on the album were not in the film. Reworked versions of "5 Colours in Her Hair", "I've Got You" and "Unsaid Things", as well as the censored Single version of "I Wanna Hold You" appear on the album instead of the original versions. The European version of the album slightly muddles up the track listing, and adds the hidden track "Get Over You" in the pre-gap.