Lucky You
How is it Hollywood has lost its’ ability to market a movie, or cut a trailer? There are many recent examples of this newfound ineptitude, few more unfortunate than Curtis Hanson’s “Lucky You.” I saw two different types of trailers for this long-shelved film (completed back in 2005)- the first played the story as a “Color of Money” like tale of a young, talented poker player who’s obsessive love for the game gets in the way of his relationship with the woman in his life while also dealing with the tension with his father- also a poker player- over past hurts, while the second one played up the romance with the girl, establishing it as an important part of the story along with the father subplot, the idea being that the love story would bring in more of a female audience while the guys came for the poker setting, culminating in a card game during the World Series of Poker. I don’t know why I’m shocked by Warner Bros. failure to successfully market the film- they bungled the promotion of Hanson’s brilliant noir classic “L.A. Confidential” almost as hard ten years ago- the tremendous critical acclaim and worth-of-mouth of audiences helped that film along. “Lucky You”- unceremoniously dumped into theatres as “counter-programming” to “Spider-Man 3”- hasn’t been so lucky.
And that’s a shame. Though not among Hanson’s best work- it’s far behind “Confidential” and 2000’s underappreciated “Wonder Boys”- “Lucky You” is an entertaining character study from the director that benefits from his intelligence and guiding hand as a storyteller. Co-authoring the screenplay with storywriter Eric Roth (“The Insider,” “Forrest Gump”), Hanson succeeds in making an all-encompassing film about the world Huck Cheever- the consumate gambler played with charisma and cockiness by “Munich’s” Eric Bana- lives in. It’s not about one story or the other, but about Huck’s life, and how his relationships to his father L.C. (played with sly cunning and wisdom by Robert Duvall) and the lounge singer he meets and loves (Billie Offer, played by Drew Barrymore, perhaps a bit over her head, but ever the charmer in a thankless role) meld together to show Huck what’s wrong with how he’s lived his life- trying to win enough money to enter the World Series of Poker, he has it in his hands a few times before gambling it away when he stays in for too long. Ultimately, the film is about addiction and forgiveness, tried and true themes that are anything but new to this story, but Hanson and his actors make them resonate by not finding closure in the end for Huck, but at least pointing him enough in the right direction to allow for some sense of closure to both stories. He’s still got a ways to go, but he’s closer than he was before. Come on Hollywood- how hard is that to market?
Really, there isn’t a whole lot I wanted to say about the film. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the setting, the music, and the way all of it was brought together. At this point, what I write about the movie isn’t going to help it out in theatres, but maybe it’ll get people to check it out on DVD, and maybe wonder- as I did- how it didn’t get the attention it deserved before (or during) its’ run.
