Lucky You - Eric Bana
Not often a leading man comes along and reminds you of what movies used to be about: love making you better for one. Eric Bana in Lucky You did that for me. The story is set around high stakes poker, the popular Texas Hold’em.
On the surface it would be easy to throw this movie away. Hey, who wants to watch a movie about poker? Then I remembered Cool Hand Luke, The Color of Money and a few other choice movies about gambling. In their own ways they have become classics.
So, why did I like Lucky You? A lot had to do with Eric Bana. He came across the sceen with the right amount of angst, the right amount of guilt, the right amount of charm, the right amount of anger toward his father, played by Robert Duvall.
Huck, named after the Mark Twain character is played by Eric, and he’s just the right kind of charm man. In the beginning he shows his quick wits and allure in trying to get more for a pawn loan from a hardened shopkeeper. She ups his loan as a way of saying “thank you” for the entertainment. Huck is desperate to get into the $10,000 stake poker tournament and if he has just a little money he knows he can turn it into the sort of winnings he needs to enter.
Enter Drew Barrymore, Billie, as the girl next door type, who wants to believe in everyone;who won’t lie, cheat or steal, even if it means winning or losing $10,000. She teaches Huck a lot about what is worth holding or folding and in the end Huck wins a lot more than he could have imagined. Truly.
This movie was a “happy for now” peek at how one person can affect and change another person’s life. There is no one truly “bad” guy, nor just one “good” guy, but ordinary people who have to face the truth about their pasts. A lot of women will like it for the emotional impact. A lot of men will like it because of high stakes gambling. Some will watch for Drew, others Robert, and others Eric. But however you are swayed into seeing this movie, you should be able to come away feeling good.
Even if you don’t enjoy the movie as much as I did, you will probably enjoy the music. Bob Dylan did a new piece for the movie, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Madeleine Peyroux, even some old George Jones stuff.
I recommend “Lucky You”.
June 10th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Thanks for the recommendation on this movie, I will check it out. I do like most of Drew Berrymore’s movies. It sound like if you don’t like the movie you will at least like the music.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Thanks for the recomendation on this movie, I will check it out. I do like most of Drew Bery more’s movies. It souns like of you don’t like the movie you will at least like the music.
March 15th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Good advice, now I just have to try it lol