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Special Features
- Additional scenes
- The Players at the Table: Behind the scenes with the poker players from the movie
- The Reel Deal: The time and place of Lucky You
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Lucky You may be playing a weak hand, but that doesn't mean it's playing a losing game. Plagued by numerous release delays and finally dumped into theaters (against Spider-Man 3) nearly two years after it was completed, Curtis Hanson's low-key and likable poker drama definitely has some problems, like a tepid romantic subplot between costars Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana, but there are some genuine pleasures to be found in this old-school character study. Best known for his Oscar-nominated direction of L.A. Confidential, Hanson is a staunch defender of Hollywood tradition, and he handles Lucky You with a delicate, John Huston-like touch, trusting the strengths of a character-driven screenplay (by Eric Roth) and the established appeal of a generally well-chosen cast. Bana plays Huck Cheever, the gambling son of a gambler, who's itching to earn a seat in the World Series of Poker, where he'll play high-stakes Texas Hold-'Em against the world's finest, including his semi-estranged father L.C. (Robert Duvall), with whom Huck has had a turbulent past relationship. They're both compulsive and highly skilled competitors, but their gambling habits don't impress Billie Offer (Barrymore), a decent, good-natured chanteuse who's just arrived in Las Vegas for her first professional nightclub gig. She'll watch with interest as Huck wins his way to the big game, but she's cautious about Huck's smooth-talking, untrustworthy, and ethically dubious lifestyle. That makes Lucky You a disappointment for anyone expecting romantic sparks to fly, and the poker angle rides a trend that was more or less over by the time this movie was finally released. Still, there's enough going on here to hold anyone's interest, and Lucky You is a welcome reminder that movies don't always require fast-cutting action and elaborate special effects. It's got an unhurried quality that's quietly refreshing, even if it qualifies as an anomaly in an industry obsessed with blockbuster potential. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Ante up for a sure entertainment bet from L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson, who co-wrote this charmer with fellow Academy Award winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump). Pro gambler Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) meets irresistible Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore) and learns to treat love the way he treats cards: trusting his heart instead of his head. He also scrambles to raise the entry fee for the high-roller World Series of Poker, even though - or maybe because - the tournament may pit him against his estranged father (Robert Duvall), a two-time Series winner.
DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Featurette
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a great time to come out with a movie about poker, since the sport has taken off at supersonic speed with amateurs winning the main event of the World Series in the last few years and people following the action on ESPN. The main problem I see with this movie though is that in an effort to be original it runs into unreal situations like a misdeal followed by a huge bad beat, or a close call to end a contrived bet.
The plot is fairly typical, a poker pro, Huck Cleever, trying to make it to the World Series of poker and win the main event. In the process, he meets a girl that shakes his world and makes him rethink his priorities. The added complication is that he is the son of a two-time winner of the event, and the son-father relationship has been in tatters for a long time. During his quest, Huck experiences huge swings in his luck, and this provides an enlightening view of what the life of a professional gambler can be like.
The acting is not particularly inspired, with the exception of Robert Duvall, who plays L.C. Cheever, the father of the protagonist. Duvall infuses his character with the external toughness and inner conflicts that the role requires and is therefore extremely successful in the process. There is a wide array of poker pros taking part in this movie, but most of them have silent roles, the exceptions are Sammy Farha and Jason Lester, who have a couple of lines each. The list of celebrities includes among others Phil Helmut, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. I did not really understand why a couple of pros play characters with different names, like Jennifer Harman, who plays Shannon Kincaid, or John Hennigan as Ralph Kaczynski.
Overall, I think that the idea of the movie was good, but the execution was deficient and the overall quality suffered as a result. For a long time to come, poker movies are going to be evaluated in terms of how they compare to Rounders, and in that sense, this one comes up short. Poker players will probably get some enjoyment from this production, but they should not expect much.
The plot is fairly typical, a poker pro, Huck Cleever, trying to make it to the World Series of poker and win the main event. In the process, he meets a girl that shakes his world and makes him rethink his priorities. The added complication is that he is the son of a two-time winner of the event, and the son-father relationship has been in tatters for a long time. During his quest, Huck experiences huge swings in his luck, and this provides an enlightening view of what the life of a professional gambler can be like.
The acting is not particularly inspired, with the exception of Robert Duvall, who plays L.C. Cheever, the father of the protagonist. Duvall infuses his character with the external toughness and inner conflicts that the role requires and is therefore extremely successful in the process. There is a wide array of poker pros taking part in this movie, but most of them have silent roles, the exceptions are Sammy Farha and Jason Lester, who have a couple of lines each. The list of celebrities includes among others Phil Helmut, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. I did not really understand why a couple of pros play characters with different names, like Jennifer Harman, who plays Shannon Kincaid, or John Hennigan as Ralph Kaczynski.
Overall, I think that the idea of the movie was good, but the execution was deficient and the overall quality suffered as a result. For a long time to come, poker movies are going to be evaluated in terms of how they compare to Rounders, and in that sense, this one comes up short. Poker players will probably get some enjoyment from this production, but they should not expect much.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
"Lucky You" is a tutorial in professional poker. The strategy. The company. And, most importantly for any movie that chooses to invest in its subject - the nature of it. The screenplay - written by Eric Roth and director Curtis Hanson - charts the heartbeat of an addicted gambler, a pulse that mirrors that of a cocaine user: Joyous leaps and races punctuated by moments when the flow of blood almost stops completely.
It strips some of the manly sweat away from the craft, too. The movie lacks the histrionics and black drama of, say, "Rounders," in part because "Rounders" is a myth, born of the idea men have about the wars of personality going on at a poker table. "Lucky You" has its clashes, for sure, and its cliches, too, but they lack blarney and false bravado. Here, poker is risk management. Actuarial work. And it makes sense.
Eric Bana turns in a committed performance as Huck Cheever, a Las Vegas poker player - he dabbles in other ridiculous bets of chance, cards, and athletic skill, but is careful never to play "the house" - whose attitude might best be likened to golfer Phil Mickelson. Huck fires for the pin on nearly every hand, overshoots the cards, and never seems to get the river when he needs it most. It's not that Huck doesn't see the angles - he chooses to obliterate them. Again and again. That's how he ends up with an empty house whose deed is held by a sports gambler watching seven televisions at once, including Australian basketball.
The movie opens with Huck pawning his mother's ring, in an effort to get a $10,000 stake in the World Series of Poker. He'll win it that $10,000, then he'll lose it, win it, lose it. His shifting fortune will involve a lounge singer new to Vegas named Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore). As her own character, Billie, seemingly naďve but oddly full of rectitude, is ill-defined. As a mirror held up to Huck's unshaven face, she would be effective if Barrymore, a sunny, buoyant actor unsuited to the moral compromises of Sin City, weren't playing her. "Lucky You" tries on romance but never makes it fit very well.
Better are the father/son dynamics between Huck and his father L.C. (Robert Duvall), a revered champion for whom Huck has unmitigated disdain. There are no surprises in their absent chemistry - L.C. was a deadbeat dad, Huck developed into a deadbeat, in general - but their scenes, especially one in a diner over several games of Guts, are fiercely written. Duvall still knows how to massage a monologue with his halting speech patterns; he uses a comic's understanding of a punchline to create a lizard of a man, down his slicked mat of hair plugs. L.C. sees himself as a Picasso of cards, an artist who sense his "time" of heightened skills is drawing to a close.
Thing is, Huck still has the nose.
For what? The mood of a hand. The unspoken momentum of it. The smell of winning and money. "Lucky You" has no prideful illusions about poker - if anything, it sticks its talons hard into the idea of "manning up" - but it still injects an air of tension and romance into its many poker hands. However misguided or addictive the behavior might be, most of the players in the movie show a love (or at least a healthy lust) for the craft; only Huck seems bent on something greater than victory. Michael Shannon and Jean Smart are especially effective in smaller as two of Huck's competitors, but the credit can be spread around; using several actors from "8 Mile," director Hanson asks for hunger and mild desperation, and he gets it from them.
Hanson's camera is equally nuanced. This is no Vegas glamour pic; we are spared helicopter dollies of The Strip. The candy lights blink in the background of many scenes, but the characters are not enamored or gob smacked by the scene, including Billie. This is a movie of people who live here, and work here, and it is long past excitement. Such honesty about the city - and the willpower to resist it becoming a character of its own - is refreshing.
Aside from Billie, the movie's weakness is a nearly endless final act that covers the World Series of Poker, not since Stallone's "Over The Top" - I'm semi-serious here - has a movie been so committed to introducing new characters in the final thirty minutes like video game bosses, then placing a miniature story arc on their fortunes. The movie's two twists are easily spotted before they unfold and the "resolution," as it were, seems a little dishonest, if morally tidy.
Nevertheless, "Lucky You" has a surprising amount of integrity, and Bana delivers a smooth, like-him-loathe-him performance, equal parts intelligence and ego. He only missteps when he has to make eyes at Barrymore. Funny that Roth and Hanson have a romantic angle for commercial appeal, only to have the movie shelved and dumped on the same weekend of the largest opening in film history ("Spider-Man 3").
It strips some of the manly sweat away from the craft, too. The movie lacks the histrionics and black drama of, say, "Rounders," in part because "Rounders" is a myth, born of the idea men have about the wars of personality going on at a poker table. "Lucky You" has its clashes, for sure, and its cliches, too, but they lack blarney and false bravado. Here, poker is risk management. Actuarial work. And it makes sense.
Eric Bana turns in a committed performance as Huck Cheever, a Las Vegas poker player - he dabbles in other ridiculous bets of chance, cards, and athletic skill, but is careful never to play "the house" - whose attitude might best be likened to golfer Phil Mickelson. Huck fires for the pin on nearly every hand, overshoots the cards, and never seems to get the river when he needs it most. It's not that Huck doesn't see the angles - he chooses to obliterate them. Again and again. That's how he ends up with an empty house whose deed is held by a sports gambler watching seven televisions at once, including Australian basketball.
The movie opens with Huck pawning his mother's ring, in an effort to get a $10,000 stake in the World Series of Poker. He'll win it that $10,000, then he'll lose it, win it, lose it. His shifting fortune will involve a lounge singer new to Vegas named Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore). As her own character, Billie, seemingly naďve but oddly full of rectitude, is ill-defined. As a mirror held up to Huck's unshaven face, she would be effective if Barrymore, a sunny, buoyant actor unsuited to the moral compromises of Sin City, weren't playing her. "Lucky You" tries on romance but never makes it fit very well.
Better are the father/son dynamics between Huck and his father L.C. (Robert Duvall), a revered champion for whom Huck has unmitigated disdain. There are no surprises in their absent chemistry - L.C. was a deadbeat dad, Huck developed into a deadbeat, in general - but their scenes, especially one in a diner over several games of Guts, are fiercely written. Duvall still knows how to massage a monologue with his halting speech patterns; he uses a comic's understanding of a punchline to create a lizard of a man, down his slicked mat of hair plugs. L.C. sees himself as a Picasso of cards, an artist who sense his "time" of heightened skills is drawing to a close.
Thing is, Huck still has the nose.
For what? The mood of a hand. The unspoken momentum of it. The smell of winning and money. "Lucky You" has no prideful illusions about poker - if anything, it sticks its talons hard into the idea of "manning up" - but it still injects an air of tension and romance into its many poker hands. However misguided or addictive the behavior might be, most of the players in the movie show a love (or at least a healthy lust) for the craft; only Huck seems bent on something greater than victory. Michael Shannon and Jean Smart are especially effective in smaller as two of Huck's competitors, but the credit can be spread around; using several actors from "8 Mile," director Hanson asks for hunger and mild desperation, and he gets it from them.
Hanson's camera is equally nuanced. This is no Vegas glamour pic; we are spared helicopter dollies of The Strip. The candy lights blink in the background of many scenes, but the characters are not enamored or gob smacked by the scene, including Billie. This is a movie of people who live here, and work here, and it is long past excitement. Such honesty about the city - and the willpower to resist it becoming a character of its own - is refreshing.
Aside from Billie, the movie's weakness is a nearly endless final act that covers the World Series of Poker, not since Stallone's "Over The Top" - I'm semi-serious here - has a movie been so committed to introducing new characters in the final thirty minutes like video game bosses, then placing a miniature story arc on their fortunes. The movie's two twists are easily spotted before they unfold and the "resolution," as it were, seems a little dishonest, if morally tidy.
Nevertheless, "Lucky You" has a surprising amount of integrity, and Bana delivers a smooth, like-him-loathe-him performance, equal parts intelligence and ego. He only missteps when he has to make eyes at Barrymore. Funny that Roth and Hanson have a romantic angle for commercial appeal, only to have the movie shelved and dumped on the same weekend of the largest opening in film history ("Spider-Man 3").
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
If you aren't a fan of high-stakes poker, or the gambling lifestyle, in general, Curtis Hanson's "Lucky You" may seem a 'bad bet', particularly as a romantic vehicle for Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore; but if you enjoy the rush of the game, and the Vegas lifestyle, circa 2003, this one is a keeper!
While the film lacks the intensity of "The Cincinnati Kid", "The Gambler", or "The Rounders", or loopy reality of "California Split", I'd still rank it among the better films about gambling, simply because of Hanson's non-apologetic approach to the subject, and respect for the practitioners (with many real-life gamblers appearing in the various match-ups). As the estranged son of a poker legend (Robert Duvall, who is, as always, superb), Eric Bana is quite convincing as a gifted, if headstrong gambler, for whom money, anyone's money, is simply a tool to ply his trade. He has a code of ethics, but ultimately, being in the game is the most important thing in his life, which puts him into romantic jeopardy when he (unconvincingly) falls for innocent aspiring singer Drew Barrymore. Needless to say, he learns that life isn't only about the next pot, but his moments with her are the least believable aspect of the film.
On the plus side, poker, Vegas-style, is portrayed lovingly, with quirky characters, venues unique to themselves, and an adrenaline rush that never ends. It isn't the glamorous 'Never Never Land' of TV's "Vegas", but a continuing stage for fortunes to be won and lost, and won, again, where novice gamblers fuel the cashflow for seasoned pros. Hanson 'scores' here, and as a Vegas resident, I can honestly say he captures the city's spirit, perfectly!
The Special Features of the DVD are quite wonderful, with insights by professional poker players, and an understandable explanation of the vagaries of poker ("The best hand doesn't always win, it's how the hand is played").
All-in-all, "Lucky You" doesn't deliver a big jackpot, but is certainly a winning hand!
While the film lacks the intensity of "The Cincinnati Kid", "The Gambler", or "The Rounders", or loopy reality of "California Split", I'd still rank it among the better films about gambling, simply because of Hanson's non-apologetic approach to the subject, and respect for the practitioners (with many real-life gamblers appearing in the various match-ups). As the estranged son of a poker legend (Robert Duvall, who is, as always, superb), Eric Bana is quite convincing as a gifted, if headstrong gambler, for whom money, anyone's money, is simply a tool to ply his trade. He has a code of ethics, but ultimately, being in the game is the most important thing in his life, which puts him into romantic jeopardy when he (unconvincingly) falls for innocent aspiring singer Drew Barrymore. Needless to say, he learns that life isn't only about the next pot, but his moments with her are the least believable aspect of the film.
On the plus side, poker, Vegas-style, is portrayed lovingly, with quirky characters, venues unique to themselves, and an adrenaline rush that never ends. It isn't the glamorous 'Never Never Land' of TV's "Vegas", but a continuing stage for fortunes to be won and lost, and won, again, where novice gamblers fuel the cashflow for seasoned pros. Hanson 'scores' here, and as a Vegas resident, I can honestly say he captures the city's spirit, perfectly!
The Special Features of the DVD are quite wonderful, with insights by professional poker players, and an understandable explanation of the vagaries of poker ("The best hand doesn't always win, it's how the hand is played").
All-in-all, "Lucky You" doesn't deliver a big jackpot, but is certainly a winning hand!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
No grand epics, but good entertainment...
Five stars for "Music & Lyrics" and "Sweet November", Four stars for "Rumor Has It", and "Lucky You" (though I'm still a little curious why... Read more
Published 15 days ago by James K Bowers
2.0 out of 5 stars
Look like a pirated stuff
The DVD's look very different from other DVD's on 4 film favorite series. I have many 4 film favorite and I Love the series but this one came with 2 DVD's without any DVD sticker... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rishabh Agarwal
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Good Movie, If You Like Playing Or Watching Poker.
I enjoy watching poker playing on the TV sports channels. I'm not sure why. It''s just fascinating, I guess, or it beats anything else on the other channels. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gary Peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars
LUCKY YOU
This product was very high quality and was delivered quickly by the seller. Highly recommend this courteous and professional seller. Read more
Published 1 month ago by David Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romance Collection
I love these movies and was very happy to see that they were all together for a great price. I received them sooner than expected and have enjoyed watching them.
Published 6 months ago by Toni O.
5.0 out of 5 stars
SLOW PACED ENTERTAINMENT
THIS MOVIE IS KIND OF LIKE "THE COLOR OF MONEY" TOM CRUZE,PAUL NEWMAN AND THE GIRL WITH THE LONG ITALIAN NAME WHICH AT PRESENT ESCAPES ME. Read more
Published 7 months ago by ROCKMAN
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth watching
I love this movie. Robert Duvall is fantastic as always and plays the part of a legendary poker player convincingly. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Paul E. Dzikowski
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who says Gambling isn't work?
This truly is a great movie that everybody should watch at least once because once you see it I'll guarantee you'll wanna watch it again. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Richard G. Whitcomb
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Expected
We got this movie because my wife is a big Drew Barrymore fan, but after reading other reviews about how small a role she actually had in the movie, we weren't expecting much when... Read more
Published 21 months ago by dan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting offbeat collection of movies
The DVD set is good quality, but with any movie it really comes down to personal taste, however some things are common - decent storylines (mostly boy meets girl here) decent... Read more
Published on September 27, 2010 by B Leuri
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