Customer Reviews

Lucky 13 [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The beginning of Lucky 13 reminded me of two other independent films that I had enjoyed: the French movie "Amelie" and "Garden State." I was ready for a fun, artsy film.
There is, however, a fine line between "creative and artsy" and "stupid and weird." I can't imagine what the makers of Lucky 13 were thinking when they produced this dull monstrosity. Nor can I imagine how, when they viewed the finished product, they still allowed it to be sent out to the public.
Lucky 13 was boring, to put it bluntly. The characters? Two dimensional wack jobs. The main character, Zach Baker, reminded me of a block of wood with a bird's nest on top. Lauren Graham, whom I had high hopes for, did a mediocre job but was still by far the best character. The plot? Unimaginative (to say the least), slow moving, and badly resolved. Even if we step aside from the unrealistic search for Zach's 12 girlfriends, we find ourselves extremely skeptical that he ever HAD 12 girlfriends to begin with. Without looks, money, or personality...but then, when we see the girls he's gone out with (all mentally or physically deranged), we begin to understand.
Even the music for Lucky 13 left much to be desired. However, there is one compliment I can pay to the film: it was short, barely topping an hour. So even if the movie itself is a complete waste of time, at least it's not a complete waste of a lot of time.

Anyone could take the premise of this story and make a decent film out of it - anyone except director Chris Hall, apparently. I really don't know what to make of Lucky 13; it's a romantic comedy with very little romance or comedy. It plods along, basically emotionless and lethargic, meandering all over the place like a distracted child. You wait for the ending, sure that you'll finally find a payoff for all the torturous buildup. Nope - just more frustration. Maybe it's just me, but the ending of this film doesn't even make sense. If there's a point to all this, it must be about as sharp as a plastic knife.

Zach Baker (Brad Hunt) is a loser from a dysfunctional family. All of his life, the girl-next-door has been Abbey (Gilmore Girls' Lauren Graham), and Zach seems perfectly content hanging out with her and his best buddy Bleckman (Harland Williams) - until Abbey announces that she is going to New York to pursue her art (in the company of a ridiculously transparent "artist"). Zach has only three days to try and convince Abbey to stay. Bleckman, one of the most pathetic characters I've seen in a long time, and Zach's family tell him Abbey's out of his league (who isn't?), but Zach's determined to try. The plan he comes up with is to talk to his former girlfriends to find out his shortcomings in the dating department. How this guy has ever had twelve girlfriends, I will never know. They're some strange ones, though, that's for sure. For some reason, none of the girls tells him that the Greatest American Hero called and wants his hair back, but Zach finally does something about the old mop in preparation for his big date on the eve of Abbey's departure - unfortunately, he goes from bad to worse by choosing an Owen Wilson 'do.

Why am I even telling you anything that happens? None of it is interesting or particularly amusing, and - not to belabor the fact or anything - the ending stinks like an outhouse in July. What else didn't I like about Lucky 13? Well, I can't forget the music - certainly not the one annoying song that seemed to be played over and over again. Then, there's the R rating thing. Two short yet racy scenes at the very beginning plus a moderate supply of adult language earned this movie an R rating. Despite the rating, Lucky 13 is really all about sappy PG-13 dialogue. This movie is hurting for an audience in any case, and the director needlessly turned some viewers away with a completely unnecessary R rating.

The only thing this movie has going for it is Lauren Graham, but her character doesn't get all that much time on the screen. The script is a total dud. I couldn't even figure out if Zach had always secretly loved Abbey or if he only fell in love with her when he heard she was leaving. There's just no depth to these characters whatsoever. File Lucky 13 under M for major disappointment.

This is a growing up, lighthearted comedy/romance film. And as the saying goes, behind a great joke or a funny story, therein lies a part of the underlying truth.

The acting wasn't so bad; actually the actors nestled into their roles effectively. Harland Williams (Bleckman) enlivens the part as Zach's funny friend. GILMORE GIRLS' Lauren Graham (as Abbey) shines through, and one's left with wanting to see more of her. Brad Hunt (as Zach Baker) played up to his wooden role, a growing up boy who's imaginary friend was the "Coolmint Girl" (Playboy's PMOY Brande Roderick) as the searching for answers protagonist which became the 'raison d'etre' of this funny movie. But there were some serious undertones behind the comedy. One just had to see through it. The married life of Zach Bakers parents for one, is a case in point. People should do well to observe it, and find out why despite his mother's making constant fun of her simple-living and 'boring' husband, the marriage lasted for 27 years. (Not very many people can say that!) Is this a fun case of forbearance and love? Is it perhaps the reason why Zach was treading carefully to get to where he is to emulate his parents and enjoy the fruits of a stable married life?

What about Zach's sister Sarah? (effectively played by Kaley Cuoco). Anybody who's experienced having a sister (or a daughter) who's constantly putting one down can commiserate with the storyline. And the selection of music from the 80's was superb. It blended well with the comedy. The story was credible to begin with. I've had a friend who went back to his past relations and asked them literally what they liked/didn't like about him so what's wrong with a guy who's been out with several girls to find out what his shortcomings were in the past in order to improve and correct his personage? The guy wants to finally win the childhood friend whom he belatedly discovered is "The One"...and therefore wants to improve his 'batting average'.

The film never pretended to be otherwise than a light-hearted comedy/romance, and was never long-winded. It played at the appropriate length (1hr 18 minutes), with English, French and Spanish language subtitles, with English 5.1 surround and good video transfer. It gained the R rating for what was an unnecessarily racy short footage at the beginning of the film...or maybe it was really hammed up to gain that rating.

This is definitely an underrated film. The ending in itself was designed so as not to spoon-feed the audience. What do you think happened at the end? Aw, c'mon, lighten up!...it's a comedy/romance film. One can insert one's own conclusion at the very end, to the tune of Jo Boxser's very upbeat "Just Got Lucky".

4 out of 5.

I only picked this one up because it had Lauren Graham in it. I had never heard of this movie, but thought "What the heck, with Lauren Graham, how bad could it be?" Oh my god! It was worse than one could imagine. What were they thinking? I agree with other reviewers....How did this guy have 12 previous girlfriends? Be kind to your brain cells...skip this one.

Purchased this DVD purely because I feel Lauren Graham is a magnificant actress, but she featured very little in the movie, and I wasnt fussed on the story line, it was about him finding his past which didnt lead to a memorable movie. Lauren Graham as always was beautiful, but very little for her to exhibit her talents.

This isn't a bad movie. There are some funny moments in it. But mostly, I think it's a movie for the fans of Lauren Graham. This movie was made in 1999 or 2000, so it was before "Gilmore Girls", and was released straight to video. And for Lauren's fans, she isn't in the movie nearly enough. Abbey (LG's character) isn't Lorelai, but Lauren's wonderful personality makes her just as endearing as Lor is. For a look at Lauren playing a character other than Lorelai Gilmore, check it out.

*Lucky 13* was surprisingly boring. At first, it looked like it was going to be a cute romantic comedy. Not! In fact, about halfway, I got pretty bored with it and started acting silly. I just could not wait for the movie to end!

The girl next door, Abbey, announces that she's moving to NYC for her artist debut. Zack, the guy next door, realizes that he has had his chances since childhood to ask Abbey out.

Zack works up the nerve to ask Abbey out on a date. The date is to be the night before she moves. So, this leaves all weekend for Zack to round up his 12 ex-girlfriends and ask them how he can improve for this special girl.

His girlfriends are just plain weird. One is a stuttering Scandinavian, one is an older woman who was once his babysitter, one is just psychotic who can't get over the break-up, etc.

It looked like it could've been a good movie. However, the last 30 minutes of it looked like the director freaked out on how to close the movie. The closing was just a lousy job! In fact, there was no closing. It just abruptly ended.

You can tell this was a cheap production. One hint was that Zack takes Abbey out to a fancy restaurant. The chairs used for this restaurant are definitely not the kind you'd see in those particular restaurants. These chairs are something you'd see at an AA meeting or in a hotel conference room. The flooring...another hint of a cheap production. So, naturally, the storyline was just cheap and unfinished.

I saw this movie on one of my movie channels and I loved it!! It was very engaging and I love the 80s music and feel to it. The story line I think is great, even though it might be a bit unrealistic that a guy would contact his 12 ex gfs but hey that's what movies are all about!! I love Harlan Williams' performance. And I think the movie is sweet and cute and has an important message conveyed especially about the problems revealed by Zack's parents. I love the ending, to me, it didn't seem clear at first but I rewatched it a dozen times and I think I truly understand it if you look for the clues, hint: he's lying in his old bed at his house and I thought that was a big clue to the ending. But it leaves it open for the viewer to decide. I really liked this film and I think the tone and the setting was great and I found the humor enjoyable. I'm gonna buy it on dvd for myself and buy an extra copy for a friend in the film industry.

A huge fan of Lauren Graham, I had really been wanting to see this film. Unfortunately, Lauren has very few scenes which is a shame since she was by far the only bright spot in Lucky 13. The acting was awful and the plot, hardly thought out. When the movie was over, which it didn't take long because it was barely an hour, I couldn't believe I had wasted my time and $4.65 at blockbuster.

Please please please please please please please...don't waste your time or your money...I bought it cos I liked Gilmore Girls but Lauren Graham is completely flat and uninteresting...the lead characfter lacks any charisma so you wonder how he got ANY women to sleep with him in the first place , let alone enough for a list... Zero plot, zero laughs...avoid like the plague...in fact, if it's between this and the plague itself, run towards those who look most sickly...!!!