Lucky You (C or 2/4 stars)
A too-cool-for-school poker player, Huck (Eric Bana) tries to win a tournament in Las Vegas, in 'Lucky You' a dramedy directed by Curtis Hanson (8 Mile, L.A. Confidential). Huck is a talented high-stakes poker player who knows how to read people's body language. Winning & losing money at whim is what defines his lonely life (because he doesn't believe in luck, & he doesn't know when to quit ... especially when he's UP). Because of this, he's constantly owing large amounts of $$ to a smattering of people. Eventually, Huck meets a struggling singer, Billie (adorable Drew Barrymore), a relationship flourishes, but he's able to foul that up, as well. While she tries to help him with his problems, he decides to 'temporarily' swindle her!
In the end, he must tackle his fears/weaknesses by regaining Billie's trust, & beat his dad, L.C. (a skilled player himself, played by Robert Duvall) at a championship poker tournament. Constantly in the shadow of his sketchy father, Huck learned to play against him as a child at the kitchen table. Ever since, gambling had been an obsession for him. So the fact that he has this contentious relationship with L.C. clouds his mind a lot. Huck knows that he's similar to his dad in some respects (cold, stoic, addicted to gambling). But Huck blames him for leaving his mother & raising him poorly in his childhood. Huck is so hung-up on this that the very sight of his father (next to him at a poker table) turns his eye color black. Everything culminates at the big tournament in the last act of the film. Will Huck win-over Billie, again? Can he ever forgive his father for what he thinks he did so many years ago? Who wins the money & the distinction of World Champion Poker player?
'Lucky You' has several strong moments. I enjoyed a bet that Huck takes which involves running a race & playing a round of golf within a 3 hour time frame. The filming of this 'bet', and what happens in the outcome is something to watch. I liked a lot of the interactions btwn. Eric Bana & Robert Duvall. The emotional tension in their scenes together is palpable (really, a test of egos & wills). Jean Smart lends a solid performance as a fellow poker expert. The production of the film is stellar; pleasurable. You can tell a sure hand/eye/mind oversaw the making of this movie. But its way too long, and too hit & miss. When it hits, it makes you think the film is better than it really is. Bana is fine here, but his character doesn't even care about losing $$! He cares about pissing off his dad (most of the movie), & arrogantly winning back Barrymore's character (who's too cloying, and too coquettish).
And a side note on the actual card-playing in the film: It's the kind of movie where you don't 'have' to know all the lingo to follow what's going on. But 'Lucky You' makes too many assumptions that most of its core viewers will want to see scene after scene of muted, expressionless (that is the point in poker), anticlimactic game playing. Just when something promising occurs in the plot, a hollow scene follows. Just when you start to sink your teeth into a particular character, the next scene grows lifeless. The film feels like it barely has a pulse. Simply, it offers too many bland, nerveless moments. 'Lucky You' isn't bad, but it's aimless in its intentions.
In the end, he must tackle his fears/weaknesses by regaining Billie's trust, & beat his dad, L.C. (a skilled player himself, played by Robert Duvall) at a championship poker tournament. Constantly in the shadow of his sketchy father, Huck learned to play against him as a child at the kitchen table. Ever since, gambling had been an obsession for him. So the fact that he has this contentious relationship with L.C. clouds his mind a lot. Huck knows that he's similar to his dad in some respects (cold, stoic, addicted to gambling). But Huck blames him for leaving his mother & raising him poorly in his childhood. Huck is so hung-up on this that the very sight of his father (next to him at a poker table) turns his eye color black. Everything culminates at the big tournament in the last act of the film. Will Huck win-over Billie, again? Can he ever forgive his father for what he thinks he did so many years ago? Who wins the money & the distinction of World Champion Poker player?
'Lucky You' has several strong moments. I enjoyed a bet that Huck takes which involves running a race & playing a round of golf within a 3 hour time frame. The filming of this 'bet', and what happens in the outcome is something to watch. I liked a lot of the interactions btwn. Eric Bana & Robert Duvall. The emotional tension in their scenes together is palpable (really, a test of egos & wills). Jean Smart lends a solid performance as a fellow poker expert. The production of the film is stellar; pleasurable. You can tell a sure hand/eye/mind oversaw the making of this movie. But its way too long, and too hit & miss. When it hits, it makes you think the film is better than it really is. Bana is fine here, but his character doesn't even care about losing $$! He cares about pissing off his dad (most of the movie), & arrogantly winning back Barrymore's character (who's too cloying, and too coquettish).
And a side note on the actual card-playing in the film: It's the kind of movie where you don't 'have' to know all the lingo to follow what's going on. But 'Lucky You' makes too many assumptions that most of its core viewers will want to see scene after scene of muted, expressionless (that is the point in poker), anticlimactic game playing. Just when something promising occurs in the plot, a hollow scene follows. Just when you start to sink your teeth into a particular character, the next scene grows lifeless. The film feels like it barely has a pulse. Simply, it offers too many bland, nerveless moments. 'Lucky You' isn't bad, but it's aimless in its intentions.