Editor's pick

All-star cast not so lucky with this movie

Review

The elements for success are all there: great actors in the cast, a well-established director at the helm and a plot that includes the popular game of Texas Hold'em. Unfortunately, what looks good on paper doesn't always yield good results in reality.

Lucky You, directed by Curtis Hanson of 8 Mile and L.A. Confidential fame, shows some promise in the beginning as Huck Cheever, played by Eric Bana, talks his way into getting a better price for a camera he's trying to pawn. Immediately you get a glimpse of the thought processes of a poker player as he propounds a strategy the pawnshop owner can use to get more value from the camera he's pawning, despite the fact that she has three other digital cameras already in her inventory.

He even calls her on a bluff, managing to get a little more money for his camera, which provides the means for him to get back in the game.

From there, the plot diverges along two separate lines, one exploring Huck's new relationship with Billie Offer, played by Drew Barrymore; the other his complicated relationship with his poker-playing father, portrayed by Robert Duvall. This is a case where the movie would have been better off following one or the other plot lines rather than trying to do both and failing to truly develop either one in a way capable of holding the audience's attention.

While Huck is forced to confront his less-than-honorable ways during his budding relationship with Billie, it is his relationship with his father that is far more interesting and also draws in more elements of the poker game. That should have been the more prominent plot line, and it would have given Duvall more screen time to showcase the great job he does with the role.

The movie does have its strong points. It's chock-full of some of the biggest names in poker appearing either as themselves, or in the case of Jennifer Harman, as supporting characters. The "Big Game" is represented in the movie with Barry Greenstein, Chau Giang, Sammy Farha, Daniel Negreanu and others getting some airtime on the big screen.

Even the legend himself, Doyle Brunson, makes an appearance.

Despite the very clichéd overtones of its treatment of the romance and the father/son issues, Lucky You manages to avoid an entirely predictable ending.

Spoiler warning: while Huck does get the girl as expected, the resolution of the storyline involving Huck and his father takes a more interesting and less-expected twist. As the two play their way through the World Series of Poker Main Event, they come up against each other in a hand, but the outcome isn't what you'd expect.

This isn't going to be an Oscar-worthy movie by any means, but it's good enough to pass the time if you're interested in getting a glimpse into the poker world and the mind of a gambler, and don't mind a romantic storyline getting in the way.

Details:

• DVD $19.99