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Lucky You (2007) DVD Review
Lucky You (2007) DVD Credits:
Lucky You (2007) Directed by:
Curtis Hanson
Lucky You (2007) Written by:
Curtis Hanson, Eric Roth
Lucky You (2007) Cast:
Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall, Debra Messing
Lucky You (2007) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Lucky You (2007) DVD Release Date:
17th September 2007
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Lucky You (2007) Synopsis:

In "Lucky You," a professional poker player (Eric Bana) gets a lesson in life from a struggling singer (Drew Barrymore) as he collides with his estranged father (Robert Duvall) at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Lucky You (2007) DVD Review:

Although the recent popularity of poker as a spectator sport has made it so that nearly everyone who owns a television should now know the basics of the game, it isn’t difficult to remember a time not too long ago when Texas Hold ‘Em was only for the professionals and enthusiasts. Lucky You is wise not to overemphasize the rules of the game, as Rounders did before the rules were so commonly known. Lucky You also makes the wise choice to set up the story in 2003, as cameras were first being used to videotape and broadcast the hands of the players during the tournament. This marked a real change in the popularity of the game, a detail which doesn’t have much to do with the human drama involved in the film, but certainly makes for an interesting setting during a time when poker has just started its popularity comeback. What is really interesting about the way that Curtis Hanson chooses to shoot the tournament is that he hardly shows the players hands, making the film far more about the characters and their choices, instead of simply being a film trying to play off of the popularity of poker.

In a pitch perfect beginning for a film about gambling and reading people, Lucky You opens in a pawn shop somewhere in Las Vegas. Instead of the usual strip footage the film opens on a large collection of horseshoe jewelry that has been sold to a jaded and bored pawn shop owner, who finds herself with a handful as Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) comes in to try and make enough money to play poker for the evening. He is able to work a deal out of the owner, but it still isn’t enough to play at the high stakes tables in the casino Huck obviously frequents, so he is forced to play at smaller tables and build up his winnings first. Once Huck sits down at a table we begin to see very quickly how he plays. Hardly looking at his cards, Huck seems far more interested in reading the other players, staring straight at them as they make decisions. This works quite well for him, even when it comes to picking up women. Huck’s ability to read people usually gives him a chance to woo women with style, which he tries to do with Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore), and is only slightly successful. His chances are ruined momentarily when he finds that her sister (Debra Messing) just happens to know his reputation.

Although Huck’s ability to read people helps him with poker and women, he finds a weakness in his poker playing father. Although Las Vegas is a large place filled with many casinos and gamblers, it is obviously smaller for high stakes poker players, especially when your father happens to be one of them. Even though Huck seems able to beat just about anybody else his emotions hinder his abilities against his estranged father (Robert Duvall), a man who is able to get the best of him at the poker table and in life. Although his father taught him to play poker, it was also poker which caused his father to steal from his mother, and for that reason he is determined to use the skill to beat him at his own game. It isn’t about the money as much as the pride of winning, which is why Huck needs to raise $10,000 in order to enter the World Series of Poker. This is easier than it sounds for Huck, but the difficulty comes in keeping the money. Several times he has the entry fee and doesn’t know when to quit, or wastes it on a foolish decisions which cause him even more problems with the tournament and his new love interest. These dynamics mirrors what we imagine his father must have treated Huck’s mother like, and it is a stark portrayal of the apple falling very close to the seemingly unbending tree.

There are three special features on the DVD, which is minimal even in consideration of menus. The deleted scenes include more singing from Barrymore, mermaid performing from Messing and poker from the rest, but they don’t advance the story at all. The featurettes include behind-the scenes footage with the real-life poker players featured in the film and “The Reel Deal-The Time and Place of Lucky You” which has some great interviews with Hanson talking about his technique in filming a poker tournament and making it interesting.

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Lucky You (2007) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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