
Lucky You
2007, Drama, 2h 4m
141 Reviews 100,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Lucky You tries to combine a romantic story with the high-stakes world of poker, but comes up with an empty hand. Read critic reviews
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Where to watch
Lucky You Photos
Movie Info
Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) is a talented poker player who must balance an intense love affair with the feats he must accomplish to win a slot in the world championship game in Las Vegas. If he makes it to the table, there is a chance he may have to compete against his father (Robert Duvall), a poker legend who abandoned Huck's mother years ago.
Cast & Crew
Eric Bana
Huck Cheever
Huck Cheever
Drew Barrymore
Billie Offer
Billie Offer
Robert Duvall
L.C. Cheever
L.C. Cheever
Debra Messing
Suzanne
Suzanne
Horatio Sanz
Ready Eddie
Ready Eddie
Jean Smart
Michelle
Michelle
Critic Reviews for Lucky You
Audience Reviews for Lucky You
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Aug 11, 2010With such an amazing pedigree (acclaimed writer, director, stars), Lucky You should have had Lady Luck at its side just based on the cards that it was dealt. What results, however, is an antiseptic drama that checked but never anted up to (let alone raised) the stakes on the table. Worse among its gambits is the movies insistence on masquerading as a drama. Lucky You is a closet comedy and would have worked much better coming out and waxing its humorous sideespecially as evidenced by a spirited scene involving Horatio Sanz, a 5 mile run, and 18 holes of golf. In the R-rated drama Lucky You, a high-stakes card player (Bana) looks to win the World Series of Poker, the affections of a lovelorn singer (Barrymore), and his gambler father (Robert Duvall). Director Curtis Hanson had the luck of the draw with L.A. Confidential, arguably one of the 10 best films of the last 25 years. Truthfully, Confidential has more verve and panache in its blooper reel than Lucky You does in its entire running time. Though Bana exhibited some of the best dramatic chops of 2005 with Munich, he is not given enough to work with from his supporting players (Barrymore, Duvall) or a lackluster script. Having Forrest Gump and The Good Shepherd to his resume, so much more was expected of screenwriter Eric Roth, who gives audiences a story that plays off a mans obvious degeneracy as a cutesy aw-shucks character trait, quickly spiraling what should have been comedy into horror. Bottom line: Leaves the audience busted.Jeff B Super Reviewer
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May 11, 2009"Nobody's that much better than anybody else at the big tables. They have different styles, different ways of doing things. Everybody knows how to play. The key to winning is watching and understanding." A good romantic drama about poker. With a great cast like Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall and Debra Messing.Magnus X Super Reviewer
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Dec 22, 2008Utter Hogwash of Melo-Dramatic BullSh*t!Joseph E Super Reviewer
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May 18, 2008[font=Century Gothic]In "Lucky You," Huck Cheever(Eric Bana) is a professional gambler living in Las Vegas who spends all of his time trying to gain entry to the World Series of Poker which requires a $10,000 entrance fee. During his rounds, he rescues Billie(Drew Barrymore), sister of an old acquaintance who is in town from her native Bakersfield to pursue a singing career. He gives her a tour of the Las Vegas that he is familiar with, one where the gamblers do nothing else, pretty much living and sleeping in the casinos. In one case, that's literally true. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Directed by Curtis Hanson, "Lucky You" may not have a particularly strong story, but it is a well-told character study(of a character who is not really that likable but that works too), starting with the bravura opening scene set in a pawn shop. On the other hand, the daddy issues are way too familiar. And while the climax is in the expected place, events do not unfold exactly as predicted. But isn't that the way it is with true life where no matter how talented a person is, luck is always a large factor in a deciding their destiny?[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]The casting is superb, and not only with the principal actors. Most of the faces seen in the movie do not look like they came from Hollywood. Instead, they look like real people who came to Las Vegas and are still trying to find a way out. And not even Drew Barrymore is exempt from this particular spell of deglamorization. [/font]Walter M Super Reviewer
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