Marking only his third feature film, Neil Burger’s The Lucky Ones held its premiere earlier this month at the high profile Toronto International Film Festival.

“To see [2000] people really respond was amazing,” said Burger in an interview with The University News.

The Lucky Ones tells the story of three soldiers U.S. fighting in the current war in Iraq, who drive across country while home on leave. It stars Tim Robbins (Mystic River), Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) and Michael Peña (World Trade Center), but the real star of the film is the minivan that shuttles them the entire way.

“Anytime that you’re shooting in a car, it’s a pain in the neck,” said Burger, who shot the film on the highway to create more realistic feel.

The shooting schedule lasted about eight weeks and required the employment of around 100 cast and crew.

“We were on the highways in St. Louis and Colorado,” he said. “I really wanted to do it for real, but it’s a risky proposition. It’s tough to be this traveling circus.”

Nevertheless, Burger feels his decision to do so added realism to the film.

“You can shoot on stage with green screen or you can actually do it,” he said. “[It] really paid off in dividends.”

The initial idea for The Lucky Ones came to Burger while he was shooting the 2006 Edward Norton magician film, The Illusionist, in Prague, and he became aware of how it felt to be an outsider.

“You have the classic culture shock,” he said. “Everything that looked normal to you is very foreign.”

In collaborating with screenwriter Dirk Wittenborn, the plot of soldiers re-experiencing life in the United States after a prolonged stay overseas was transformed into a script.

“It all just kind of gelled into a single idea,” Burger said.
When it came time to cast, Burger caught a break early on.

“Tim [Robbins] saw the script and was interested,” he said.

After Robbins became involved, he set about casting the two other soldiers at the center of the story.

“With Rachel [McAdams], we went after her,” he said. “[Her character] is sort of this na’ve idealist. I needed a really good actress to pull that off.”

Pena was a different story.

Burger held a number of auditions before deciding on the up-and-coming actor, known primarily for his role in the 2005 Oscar winner Crash.

“He was a great fit,” Burger said. “His character is very cocky and self assured. Michael’s a great guy, but he is very driven.”

Though, on the surface, The Lucky Ones seems to fit in with the recent spat of Iraq war-themed dramas (Rendition, et cetera), Burger is quick to distance his film from any obvious message or recent filmmaking fad.

“It’s about these three characters that just want to have a good time and get home to their families, but life often doesn’t work that way,” he said. “The fact that they’re in the military just puts a sharper edge on it.”

The Lucky Ones opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, Sep. 26.