Ryan ChartrandIf you’re a fan of the classic Drew Barrymore film where she prances around the screen and falls in love with someone, then out of love, and back into it again, then “Lucky You” is not quite what you are looking for.
It is mainly centered on a hotshot poker player, Huck Cheever (played by Eric Bana of “Munich” and “Hulk”), who is struggling to make it in Sin City as a competitor in the World Series of Poker.
Cards are not Cheever’s only worries, though. His relationship with his father, L.C. (Robert Duvall), a two-time winner of the series, is not too great either.
While Huck Cheever is supposed to be the tough guy who does anything it takes to win, his character is honestly not all that believable.
The movie makes sure you know he has a reputation in the casinos, drives a motorcycle and uses women, but you don’t see a whole lot of that when he runs to apologize after doing anything that could hurt Barrymore’s feelings.
In the film, Barrymore takes second (maybe even third) stage playing Billie Offer, an aspiring singer who moves from Bakersfield to Las Vegas and lives with her older sister played by Debra Messing. A bit na’ve, Offer is almost instantly intrigued by Cheever, who charms her with his smooth-talking.
You better like poker a whole lot if you go to see this because about half of the screen time is taken up by cards, chips and cash flying around. The rest is father-son drama with a little romance thrown in to keep the ladies interested.
L.C. left Huck’s mom and stole everything she had when he switched to gambling from teaching English. Huck hasn’t forgiven him and constantly tries to beat L.C. at the game he taught him with “pennies, nickels and dimes at the kitchen table.”
For the most part, “Lucky You” will keep your attention as it moves from flushes to crushes and it has a little something for everyone. The man with a boob job got a laugh out of me and there’s even a fight scene; it’s short and basically just a threat, but still. At least Bana gets a black eye and it distracted me from thinking about how I desperately wanted to cut his terrible hair.
The romantic comedy aspect of the movie was predictable and I cared more about who won each round of cards than whether Huck and Billie wound up together, but I did like Barrymore’s character. She is not too forgiving and knows when to stand up for herself. The part was well-cast, but it is surprising that Barrymore would do such a small movie where she doesn’t even have a huge role.
If the relationship between Bana and Barrymore had been a given a little more airtime, it might have helped create some chemistry which was lacking simply because it wasn’t developed. Come on, it’s Vegas and a one-night stand is supposed to be devastating? Throughout the movie, Huck wins and loses painful amounts of money repeatedly while getting ready for the World Series and he wins and loses the girl just about as many times.
It’s not too convincing and there were dull moments, but overall, “Lucky You” is a great way to spend a couple hours when you have nothing better to do. Just be prepared for cheesy poker puns and a Las Vegas where no one seems to be all that bad.