August 4, 2008
"You got it backwards kid. You play cards the way you should lead your life. And you lead your life the way you should play cards."...( read more).photobucket.com/albums/w25/EarthlyAlien/lucky_you_0600.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
It's curious to see a film like Lucky You hit the big screen over two years following the zenith of The World Series of Poker, which has lost popularity fairly steadily since then. However, I would go so far as to say that the producers felt it was entrapping those hardcore poker fans, as well as the casual filmgoer with big name stars such as Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall, and Robert Downey Jr. Then there are the cinemaphiles, like myself, who would see it solely to see whether writer-director Curtis Hanson will ever recapture the magic of his 1997 masterpiece L.A. Confidential.
Huck Cheever (Bana) is a world-class poker player, skilled in reading those people sitting across from him with ease (as well as garnering one-night stands). However, he has consistently been held back by his emotions, which hinder and eventually destroy his game. While at a tournament in Vegas he meets the lovely Billie Offer (Barrymore), a young singer with a great deal of heart, but little in the way of talent. Billie has her own talent for reading people, but this lay in sorting through a person's personality and emotions, determining what they really want and need. Huck's greatest opposition lies in the venerable poker legend L.C. Cheever (Duvall), who also happens to be his father. For their own parts, both Billie and Cheever the senior are attempting to teach Huck life lessons that will help him not only at the table, but in life in general.
Lucky You is one those films made to be enjoyed and then forgotten - and that doesn't have to be a necessarily bad thing. Enjoying poker (playing and watching) will, of course, make it particularly worthwhile, but there's something here for anyone looking for a good time. One thing I can assure you: this is way better than 21 (another "Vegas" film that came out this year) which somehow wanted to be something it's not. Lucky You doesn't. All it ever wanted was to be a sweet, innocent rom-com, that happens to take place in Vegas and deal with poker.
The acting, despite its woefully clichéd plot, is fairly solid. Bana gives a fine turn, as he usually does, raising the issue of how long it will take for the talented Aussie to get his big break. His performance is a perfect characterization of a man obsessed with what he does, living from tournament to tournament with little else in his life. Barrymore, who still looks like she could be twenty, is also quite good. Her character does tend to be a bit of an annoyance, but she brings a great deal to the proverbial table providing several strong moments. Duvall is great as the sagacious legend. It was amazing watching the father-son banter between Duvall and Bana throughout the film as the two men played off of each other very well. The biggest let-down in the acting department is the under use of the supporting cast. Downey Jr., Debra Messing, and Jean Smart were terrific in their roles, which amounted to be little more than bit parts.
The writing is surprisingly solid-average for a romantic comedy. The characters are well-written, the dialogue flows smoothly, and the plot develops very well... particularly well, considering how, well, middling the plot itself is. Moreover, for a plot as clichéd as that of Lucky You the poker and Vegas clichés are used sparingly, yet added some terrific dialogue to the film itself. The actual tournament segments of the film are fairly well-done. While they don't match the intensity of those in Rounders they certainly keep the viewer engrossed and entertained. In fact, I preferred the actual table drama in this to the one in Casino Royale. It did drag slightly, and the two-hour runtime can be a bit excessive, but the table banter (particularly with Duvall and Bana) kept things rolling for the most part.
All in all, Lucky You is a fairly satisfying film. Its only major weakness is in its predictability and pacing, though the latter is not really a cause for concern. The acting is strong, the writing is fairly good, and the actual tournament sequences are very entertaining... much more so than that which can be found on ESPN. Nothing about the film is Oscar-worthy, but it's a good way to spend an afternoon (girlfriend/boyfriend is always a good choice, especially if both like cards), and guess what? I enjoyed it more than Spider-Man 3. That's gotta worth something.
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