Lucky You: Movie & DVD Review (2007)

Not so wild about the deuces

Curtis Hanson’s new movie, "Lucky You," recently squared off against "Spider-Man 3," and to say it lost its hand at the box office is an understatement. Still, in spite of being pitted against that movie — and after sitting for the past two years on Warner Brothers’ shelf (never a good sign) — the film isn’t the disaster some might expect it to be.

True, its title is regrettable, its characters’ names seem culled from the dust bin of bad clichés, and it doesn’t pack the heat of the great gambling films, such as "The Hustler," or even the absolute cool of the poker game in "Casino Royale."

But this leisurely paced movie, which Hanson co-wrote with Eric Roth, has an introspective vibe that’s appealing, even if it doesn’t drum up much excitement along the way.

Eric Bana is Huck Cheever, a down-on-his-luck gambler whose poker skills were honed in childhood, when his father, the celebrated poker player L.C. Cheever (Robert Duvall, excellent), taught him how to play at the dinner table.

Huck learned from the best, but he also learned from a cad. When L.C.’s relationship with Huck’s mother dissolved after years of mistreating her, his relationship with Huck soured along with it. Now, they circle each other with wary unease, a feeling that’s amplified when each enters a Vegas championship poker tournament, the prize for which is north of $2 million. Is Huck good enough to beat his father? The past says no. Unlike L.C., who respects the game, Huck’s brash, impatient style continues to undermine him.

"Lucky You" balances its father-son drama with the melodrama unfolding in Huck’s romantic life. Long a player of women with the reputation to match it, he is drawn to the dullest, nicest person on Earth when he meets Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore), an aspiring singer who favors what appear to be handmade frocks, and who Huck beds, robs blind, and teaches plenty.

Their relationship is the film at its weakest — Bana and Barrymore have no chemistry — so it’s good news that Hanson ("L.A. Confidential," "Wonder Boys") has his memorable opening with Bana trying to hustle the savvy owner of a pawn shop, as well as Duvall, whose knowing asides prove a necessity as the tournament gets under way.

Grade: C+