You will find numerous givens when the first is faced having a Nicholas Sparks story, the surest factor being that you’ll cry. Indeed, you’ll be sad. That’s, if you are one of the numerous available predisposed to falling underneath the spell of Sparks’s carefully crafted, timeworn miracle formula of affection, tears, and tragedy. But exactly how performs this week’s Zac Efron-starring The Lucky One measure to the forerunners when it comes to The Sparks Quotient? It is a fail-proof alchemy which has switched the author’s best-selling weepies into hits since 1999′s Message inside a Bottle. Let us break it lower into the most typical unifying aspects of a Sparks saga: Guy with emotional baggage meets plucky lady They are available from different mobile phone industry’s It’s occur the Carolinas Stars a teenager idol making their career transition (extra point when they sing a schmaltzy ballad) Includes a water-related love scene A secret/miscommunication will get when it comes to love Hands-written notes/letters are participating Guy makes grand gesture of affection Tear-jerking last act tragedy strikes Makes a small fortune — Spoilers follow, clearly. Message inside a Bottle (1999) Plot:Robin Wright falls for Kevin Costner after finding love letters he authored to his dead wife. Emo guy/plucky woman:  1 [Grieving widower/smart news investigator] Different mobile phone industry’s:  1 [She's from Chicago, he's a basic seaside boat enthusiast] Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star/ballad:  Watery love scene:  1 [Makin' love although it flows outdoors - check!] Secrets:  1 [Like, majorly -- they split up because she hid her understanding of his letters.] Notes/letters:  1 [See title.] Grand gesture:  Tragedy:  1 [He dies. Boating accident.] $$$:  1 [#1 movie on Valentine's weekend '99, bitches] Sparks Quotient: 8 — A Stroll to keep in mind (2002) Plot: Popular teen (Shane West) falls for any homely preacher’s daughter (Mandy Moore) despite her gross cheapest-rung social status. Emo guy/plucky woman:  1 [Awesome kid Landon wrestles together with his growing feelings for Jamie even while she dares to put on ugly knit tops making him promise he will not fall deeply in love with her.] Different mobile phone industry’s:  1 Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star/ballad:  2 [Pop singer Mandy Moore's previous credits: The Princess Journals and individuals Neutrogena advertisements. And Who are able to forget Moore's stirring rendition of "Hope,Inch the song Jamie works within the school play that literally makes Landon's eyes pop from their electrical sockets?] Watery love scene:  Secrets:  1/2 [Mixed signals throw a couple of wrenches into Landon and Jamie's romance because he struggles to be prepared for his readiness to become observed in public together with her.] Notes/letters:  1 [Jamie's To-Do list see: Tragedy] Grand gesture:  1 [Um, such as the ENTIRE MOVIE. It is the ultimate fantasy where a guy will literally fulfill every wish you had, from creating a homemade telescope in your balcony to suggesting marriage at age 17.] Tragedy:  1 [She dies. Leukemia.] $$$:  [A modest $41M domestic take, however the cheapest grossing Sparks movie up to now.] Sparks Quotient: 8 1/2 — The Sparks is strong in that one. — The Notebook (2004) Plot: nineteen forties townie (Ryan Gosling) falls for wealthy heiress (Rachel McAdams) but her family and the garbage prospects have them apart. Emo guy/plucky woman:  1 Different mobile phone industry’s:  1 Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star:  1 [Ryan Gosling had already starred in films such as the Believer and Murder By Amounts... but he'd been in The Donald Duck Club. Also it established his heartthrob potential.] Watery love scene::  1 [Just the Best. Rain hug. Ever.] Secrets:  1 [HE Authored HER Every Single Day For Any YEAR!!] Notes/letters:  1 [See above] Grand gesture:  1 [Talking, growing a sadness beard, rebuilding a plantation house only for her] Tragedy:  1 [Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer's disease! *sob*] $$$:  1 Sparks Quotient: 10 — The Sparksiest of all of them. — Nights in Rodanthe (2008) Plot: Jilted single mom (Diane Lane) falls for brooding surgeon (Richard Gere) while trapped in a mattress-and-breakfast. He’s just gotta do that one factor in South Usa… Emo guy/plucky woman:  1/2 [Honestly, they are both broken. We'll refer to it as even.] Different mobile phone industry’s:  Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star:  Watery love scene:  1 [Hurricane make-out!] Secrets:  1 [His guilt on the dead patient] Notes/letters:  1 Grand gesture:  Tragedy:  1 [He dies. Inside A MUDSLIDE.] $$$:  Sparks Quotient: 5 1/2 — Dear John (2010) Plot: Military soldier (Channing Tatum) falls for coed (Amanda Seyfried), love letters can’t quite sustain lengthy distance relationship throughout deployment. Emo guy/plucky woman:  1 [He's dad issues. She's giant kewpie toy eyes.] Different mobile phone industry’s:  1 Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star/ballad:  1/2 [Seyfried sings around the soundtrack ballad "Little House"] Watery love scene::  1 [Um. YES.] Secrets:  1 [Yeah, like the truth that she married the little one from E.T. while John was away.] Notes/letters:  1 [Plenty of them, however they don' good.] Grand gesture:  1 [He sells his dad's valued gold coin collection to cover her sick husband's hospital bills. Tragedy:  1 [Her sick husband dies from cancer.] $$$:  1 [#1 in the box office. Take that, Avatar!] Sparks Quotient: 9 1/2 — The Final Song (2010) Plot: Troubled city teen (Miley Cyrus) is distributed off and away to accept her father, where she functions out until a nearby hottie’s love (and endangered turtles) help her grow the hell up. Emo guy/plucky woman:  [All the issues are hers, I swear.] Different mobile phone industry’s:  1 Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star/ballad:  1 [Ronnie finishes writing her father's song and works it in chapel and stuff.] Watery love scene:  1/2 [A mid-montage sea frolic. Counts.] Secrets:  1/2 [Poorest secret ever in regards to a chapel fire drives a wedge between Ronnie and her hunky boyfriend.] Notes/letters:  1/2 [Does written music count?] Grand gesture:  Tragedy:  1 [Dad Greg Kinnear dies. Cancer.] $$$:  1 Sparks Quotient: 6 1/2 — The Lucky One (2012) SPOILER WARNING Plot: U.S. Marine (Zac Efron) returns from Iraq to obtain the lady whose picture serendipitously saved him from a surge, he falls on her. Emo guy/plucky woman:  1 [He's a tortured soldier who can't quite let her know why he found town she's just one mother.] Different mobile phone industry’s:  Southern setting:  1 Teen idol star:  1 [Efron's first genuine love scene, unless of course you count that certain time he made it happen having a ghost.] Watery love scene:  1 [Nothin' like sweet, sweet outside shower love.] Secrets:  1 [Otherwise for his large "secret," this movie might be in one panty-shedding Efron wink.] Notes/letters:  1/2 [Half a place for that Photograph of Future] Grand gesture:  1 [Hmm, does walking across the nation by feet simply to stalk a random fantasy lady whom you then come to dedicate yourself under false pretenses so that you can be near her count?] Tragedy:  1 [Yep, someone dies. I'll leave that juicy bit that you should uncover.] $$$: TBA Sparks Quotient: 7 1/2 Sparks fans, it appears like you are in luck! The Lucky One features the majority of the Sparksian signposts your tear ductwork happen to be awaiting. Bring Kleenex! For additional, read Movieline’s review.