Lucky You (2007)

Director:

Curtis Hanson

Writers (WGA):

Eric Roth (screenplay) &
Curtis Hanson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 May 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Change your game. Change your life.

Plot:

A hotshot poker player tries to win a tournament in Vegas, but is fighting a losing battle with his personal problems.

Plot Keywords:

Poker | Poker Player | Father Son Relationship | Beautiful Woman | Pawnshop

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Phyllis Somerville	...	Pawnbroker
Eric Bana	...	Huck Cheever
Horatio Sanz	...	Ready Eddie
Drew Barrymore	...	Billie Offer
Joey Kern	...	Billie’s Admirer
Debra Messing	...	Suzanne Offer
Delaine Yates	...	Ginger
Mykel Shannon Jenkins	...	Gary
Robert Duvall	...	L. C. Cheever
Charles Martin Smith	...	Roy Durucher
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Telephone Jack
Saverio Guerra	...	Lester
Danny Hoch	...	Bobby Basketball
Kenny Cau	...	Chinese Restaurant Waiter
Kelvin Han Yee	...	Chico Banh

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language and sexual humor.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Ireland:12A | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:6 | Germany:6 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Lucky You Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

The portrait (actually an enlarged photograph) hung on the wall during the final WSOP match is that of Benny Binion, the original owner of the Horseshoe, taken at his ranch in Montana.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Huck ('Eric Bana') plays in the super satellite and its down to 3 players it is said that Shannon Kincaid (Jennifer Harmon) is the chip leader but the very next hand she ends up all in against Huck and is out of the tournament, if she was the chip leader then she would still have chips left and not out. And then in the same scene after she is knocked out the remaining 2 end up all in and Huck believes he has won, however the dealer did not burn a card so when he comes back and loses he is out this would mean that they had identical chip stacks, which is not possible since he had taken the chip lead with the knockout of Kincaid.

Quotes:

Suzanne Offer: If anyone could turn nothing into something, it's you, Huck. Trouble is, you always throw it away.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I Am Legend (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Cold Hard Truth

A Decent, Entertaining if Not Great Movie

"Lucky You" is simply a nice romantic date movie without the thrills and complexity nor gimmicky twists that usually occur in the movie. It avoids the obvious stereotypes and plots and focus not on the game of poker but on the personalities, the feelings, impressions of the game. There isn't much deep here, the storyline pretty basic with a soft ending rather than a dramatic ending. For some, the absence of a lot of poker strategy and screen time on the plays can be a problem. For others however, the mindlessness of it and the romance, the moral story of it is clearly presented and becomes enjoyable entertainment. Seven out of Ten Stars.