Lucky You (2007)
Average Rating: 5/10
Reviews Counted: 141
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 100
Lucky You tries to combine a romantic story with the high-stakes world of poker, but comes up with an empty hand.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 41
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 30
Lucky You tries to combine a romantic story with the high-stakes world of poker, but comes up with an empty hand.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 206,852
Movie Info
A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poker while simultaneously earning the affections of a beautiful Las Vegas singer in a high-stakes emotional drama from L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson and Munich screenwriter Eric Roth. When his personal problems threaten to distract him from what could be his biggest win ever, seasoned poker pro Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) finds comfort in the
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Cast
-
Eric Bana
Huck Cheever -
Drew Barrymore
Billie Offer -
Robert Duvall
L.C. Cheever -
Debra Messing
Suzanne Offer -
Horatio Sanz
Ready Eddie -
Jean Smart
Carson Michelle -
Phyllis Somerville
Pawnbroker -
Joey Kern
Billie's Admirer -
Delaine Yates
Ginger -
Mykel Shannon
Gary -
Charles Martin Smith
Roy Durucher -
Robert Downey Jr.
Telephone Jack -
Saverio Guerra
Lester -
Danny Hoch
Bobby Basketball -
Kenny Cau
Chinese Restaurant Wait... -
Kelvin Han Yee
Chico Banh -
Jack Younger
Room Service Waiter -
Tracy Howe
Roy's Guy -
Sonny Suroweic
Roy's Guy -
Madeleine Peyroux
Lounge Singer -
Hans Howes
Big Buckle Iverson -
Bradford English
Tommy the Poker Host -
Omar Benson Miller
Card Grabber -
Ed Refuerzo
Filipino Player -
Elisabeth Granli
Cocktail Waitress at Fi... -
Spencer Conner
Cowboy -
Yetta Gottesman
Poker Room Cashier -
Sam Farha
Sam Farha -
Chau Giang
Chau Gian -
Barry Greenstein
Barry Greenstein -
Jason Lester
Jason Lester -
Ted Forrest
Ted Forrest -
Minh Ly
Minh Ly -
John Murphy
John Murphy -
Erick Lindgren
Erick Lindgren -
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu -
Alexei Kuznetsov
Russian Player -
Dara Khy
Dealer -
Pat M. Maresca
Dealer -
Joe Witherell
Dealer -
Sheila Hanson
Dealer -
Darunee Doa Hale
Dealer -
Lisa Glossop
Dealer -
Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
Dealer -
Sam O'Connor
Old Man -
Pat Callihan
Man in Cowboy Hat -
Tina Schafer
Woman With Straight -
Crystal Simanek
Cocktail Waitress -
Robby Bostick
Poker Room Host -
Olivia Tracey
Isabel -
Gay Burch
Dealer -
James Williams
Dealer -
Bill McKinney
Satellite Cashier -
Jennifer Harmon
Shannon Kincaid -
Michael Shannon
Ray Zumbro -
Mark Tymchyshyn
Tournament Official -
Norris Watsky
Elderly Dealer -
Shawn Parr
TV Commentator -
Matt Savage
Tournament Director -
Francine Beers
Elderly Female Player -
Laasa Howard
Young Female Player -
Richard Assad
Karim Kasai -
Evan Jones
Jason Keyes -
John Hennigan
Ralph Kaczynski -
David Oppenheim
Josh Cohen -
Bill May
Frank Belando -
Ling Jo Eusebio
David Chen -
Jack Binion
Jack Binion -
Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson -
Johnny Chan
Johnny Chan -
Hoyt Corkins
Hoyt Corkins -
Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio Esfandiari -
Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson -
Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington -
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth -
Karina Jett
Karina Jett -
John Juanda
John Juanda -
Mike Matusow
Mike Matusow -
Erik Seidel
Erik Seidel -
Mimi Tran
Mimi Tran -
Marsha Waggoner
Marsha Waggoner -
Robert Williamson III
Robert Williamson III -
Cyndy Violette
Cyndy Violette -
Eddie Hill
Washroom Attendant -
Charlene Sperske
Dealer -
Kyle D. Morris
Dealer
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Lucky You Trailer & Photos
All Critics (143) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (100) | DVD (14)
Hanson and Roth shuffle the two sides of the movie, the poker tournament and the love affair, with a Howard Hawksian feel for casual professionalism.
While fans of Eric Bana may get a kick out of his meaty, manly performance, Drew Barrymore is a huge mistake.
Lucky You is hardly Mr. Hanson's strongest effort, but it does contain many of his saving graces: a warm regard for his characters, an unhurried pace for his narrative and a grown-up sense of morality.
Feels like Showgirls without the tits or dancing.
It's a ponderous, anemic bore about how to play poker that exploits the trendy gambling fever that is all the rage on the Internet and cable TV, but doesn't have enough energy to keep the most catatonic tournament-poker addict awake.
Most of Lucky You, starting with the title, is ordinary or outright awful. Moviemakers, it seems, cannot bluff their way to success.
Don't bet on Barrymore's lackluster poker rom-com.
Curtis Hanson's film concerns itself with wage-makers' addictive pathological itch, desperate hustles and poker's cult of very strange personalities. Its most striking "Tin Cup" kinship: Vindication and victory don't always arrive together.
I don't think I believed the movie Lucky You, but I sort of enjoyed it. A caveat: I enjoy watching poker on ESPN. If you don't, this movie will bore you.
Since Lucky You overdid the poker cliches to death, let me end with one of my favorites: 'You got to know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em.' It seems this film never learned that lesson.
Better to fold 'em than to spend time watching Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore go literally nowhere.
Personally, I think this is one of those misunderstood films that never got a fair shake. DVD often corrects such oversights, and my hope is that Lucky You will finally find the appreciative audience it deserves.
Lucky You undoes what Rounders did right.
...a well-intentioned romantic-gambling film that misses the mark by providing little we haven't seen before and better.
As soon as it has to face the real world, and deal with "emotions," it goes completely slack.
...everything about the movie is a little out-of-it, and not just because it's been lying on the studio shelf for a couple of years.
Gambling and love rarely mix.
It is amazing how safe Hanson and company play it.
The end result is a movie that would have been better off eschewing its comedic aspirations in order to tell a serious story, which Hanson and Duvall have more than proven they're capable of.
Can't decide whether it's a cautionary tale about gambling, a weepy father-son drama or a breezy rom-com.
It's a shame that Barrymore's scenes are such a washout because the rest of the film is perfectly fine.
Lucky You is a decent and often engaging character study that deserved more respect from critics and the studio than it received.
Below average, overlong drama that fails to deliver an emotional punch, largely because it's unsure of whether it wants to be a father-son drama or a romcom.
Gambling drama never seems to draw the right cards. Best to fold...
But Lucky You would be distinctly better if it were shorter in length and clearer about the rules of the game. Its idea that gamblers carry on much the same in life as they do at the tables is hardly original enough to sustain the whole film.
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