DVD-Review: Lucky You
Film: Lucky You
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Eric Bana, Robert Duvall, Robert Downey Jr., Deborah Messing
Director: Curtis Hanson
Screenwriter: Eric Roth and Curtis Hanson
Why? What prompted Drew Barrymore to play yet another naive innocent in some vacuous film? I ask this question of Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. although neither of these two were naive innocents, and the latter Robert's role was only about 5 minutes long.
The premise of the film is the analysis of the life of Huck (yes, as in Huckleberry) Cheever (Eric Bana), a full-time gambler who can win successfully, but doesn't know when to stop. Compulsive is the word. He falls for Billie (Drew), who is in town visiting her sister (Deborah Messing), who warns Billie against Huck. She falls for him anyway, thinking him a lost soul who can be changed.
It doesn't matter that when she tells him that she got a job and he offers to celebrate, he takes her $1,000 in traveler's checks and has her cash them in for chips so they can gamble. That's how they celebrate her job. She sits there asking stupid questions and looking goofy and stupid, while he bids and bets her money. They win, of course, but what if he hadn't? Would she have slept with him later? Would she have been as shocked when she discovered he had he stole money from her handbag? Did she really think he wouldn't do that?
In the end she supposedly teaches him a valuable moral lesson, but it's lost in the lack of chemistry. It just wasn't there. It wasn't felt. Maybe it's because we hear and see stories about people in Huck's position not being able to rehabilitate themselves without going to Gamblers Anonymous. Just saying it won't happen again just isn't enough.
As for the poker playing that goes on throughout the film, it bothered me. Not because I'm not a gambler or because I'm unfamiliar with how to play Texas Hold-em, but moreso because it just seemed to emphasize the depravity of it all. The whole thing was done with such a depressing feel, as if they wanted to send a subtle message such as, "Kids, don't try this at home."
The final scenes at the tournament are entertaining, but there's no sense of anticipation. There's no feeling of excitement. In a why I knew the outcome and it's a bit anti-climactic, just like most of this film.
I should mention that this DVD was for sale in the $1 bin. My friends and I watched it not sure what to expect. What we all agreed with in the end was that it wasn't even worth the $1 that was paid for it.
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Eric Bana, Robert Duvall, Robert Downey Jr., Deborah Messing
Director: Curtis Hanson
Screenwriter: Eric Roth and Curtis Hanson
Why? What prompted Drew Barrymore to play yet another naive innocent in some vacuous film? I ask this question of Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. although neither of these two were naive innocents, and the latter Robert's role was only about 5 minutes long.
The premise of the film is the analysis of the life of Huck (yes, as in Huckleberry) Cheever (Eric Bana), a full-time gambler who can win successfully, but doesn't know when to stop. Compulsive is the word. He falls for Billie (Drew), who is in town visiting her sister (Deborah Messing), who warns Billie against Huck. She falls for him anyway, thinking him a lost soul who can be changed.
It doesn't matter that when she tells him that she got a job and he offers to celebrate, he takes her $1,000 in traveler's checks and has her cash them in for chips so they can gamble. That's how they celebrate her job. She sits there asking stupid questions and looking goofy and stupid, while he bids and bets her money. They win, of course, but what if he hadn't? Would she have slept with him later? Would she have been as shocked when she discovered he had he stole money from her handbag? Did she really think he wouldn't do that?
In the end she supposedly teaches him a valuable moral lesson, but it's lost in the lack of chemistry. It just wasn't there. It wasn't felt. Maybe it's because we hear and see stories about people in Huck's position not being able to rehabilitate themselves without going to Gamblers Anonymous. Just saying it won't happen again just isn't enough.
As for the poker playing that goes on throughout the film, it bothered me. Not because I'm not a gambler or because I'm unfamiliar with how to play Texas Hold-em, but moreso because it just seemed to emphasize the depravity of it all. The whole thing was done with such a depressing feel, as if they wanted to send a subtle message such as, "Kids, don't try this at home."
The final scenes at the tournament are entertaining, but there's no sense of anticipation. There's no feeling of excitement. In a why I knew the outcome and it's a bit anti-climactic, just like most of this film.
I should mention that this DVD was for sale in the $1 bin. My friends and I watched it not sure what to expect. What we all agreed with in the end was that it wasn't even worth the $1 that was paid for it.
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