Lucky You Review..

In the world of high - stakes poker, Huck Cheever is a blaster: a player who goes all out, all the time.. But in his personal relationships Huck plays it tight, expertly avoiding emotional commitments and long - term expectations.. When Huck sets out to win the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker - and the affections of Billie Offer, a young singer from Bakersfield, there is one significant obstacle in his path: his anger towards his father, LC Cheever, the poker legend who abandoned Huck's mother years ago..

Rated: [ PG ] Mild Themes, Infrequent Mild Violence

Cinema Release: 10th May 2007

Running Time: 118 minutes

Stars: Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Debra Messing, Robert Duvall

Curtis Hanson ( L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile ) has been known for delivering fascinating and exciting worlds onto the big screen with heart and authenticity.. In " Lucky You " however, Hanson somewhat pretentiously seems to think that the world of a professional poker player alone is exciting enough to carry a film for over two hours, in what ends up being an entirely shallow affair..

Huck Cheever ( Eric Bana ) is a professional poker player who plays cards the way he should lead his life and leads his life the way he should play cards.. He meets a young singer, Billie ( Drew Barrymore ), whose innocence forces Huck to rethink his recklessness off the table, and his tattered relationship with his poker legend father, L.C. ( Robert Duvall )..

When I first heard about " Lucky You " I was excited.. Being a huge Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana fan, plus a regular poker player, it had everything to be a great poker movie.. But was I wrong!

Ho - hum.. The film suffers from predictable plot points and character arcs that deal with garden - variety issues.. Hanson appears to be so obsessed with the manipulation of chips, poker lingo and strategy, that the film loses all signs of life midway through the second act as a passion for authenticity overshadows any semblance of story.. He should have turned to the far superior " Rounders " for advice on how to create characters interesting enough whereby the excitement is not in the cards themselves but in the people playing them..

Some of the blame for this must go to both Bana - who is yet to prove himself in a leading role after " Chopper " - and Barrymore, whose natural charisma plays for effervescent but ends up faltering in the dramatic material.. The complete lack of chemistry between the two weakens what could have been an interesting dichotomy.. Robert Duvall is the only one to provide some spark as Bana's cocky but flawed father..

The dialogue offers a checklist of contrivances as poker is used as a kind of metaphor for how the characters lead their lives, and after innumerable forced analogies this device becomes stale and alienating.. I was going to leave the trailer out of this review, but here it is anyway..



See the film if you are enthralled by late - night poker television shows.. For everyone else, make a good fold..

I give " Lucky You " 1 out of 5..