Lucky You

Warner Home Video 70141 - Region 1
123 minutes

List Price: $28.98 (Check Price at Amazon.com)

Available on DVD 9/18/2007

Additional Movie Details

	Theatrical	This DVD
Aspect Ratio:	2.35:1	2.35:1
Audio:		Dolby Digital 5.1

Disc 1 Contents

• Up-front Ad for the "Lucky You" Soundtrack
• Movie
• Extras
  • The Players at the Table - Interviews with the real poker players in the movie.
  • The Reel Deal - The Time and Place of Lucky You - A "making of" documentary that covers the filmmakers' motivations and approach for the movie.
  • Deleted Scenes

About the Movie

Eric Bana plays a professional gambler with serious issues relating to his chosen profession, and with his relationship with his father (also a gambler). He's willing to do just about anything to get a small amount of money that he can turn into a larger stake, which he then is willing to burn in the pursuit of the next win. As a result, he lives in an empty house, his only friends are other compulsive gamblers, and when he meets a nice girl, he isn't able to hang onto her without a major struggle. Everything leads up to the World Series of Poker, where he must face his father in the final round, and decide what's really important to him.

How Does it Look?

Aside from some brief instances where the picture exhibited some compression-related artifacts, the picture quality was acceptable. Everything is very vibrant, which matches the showiness of Las Vegas and its casinos, making for a pleasing (and TV-friendly) image.

How Does it Sound?

The sound was actually very good, which was surprising given the type of movie this was. Usually, not much effort is put into such productions, but there were many times when the surrounds provided a welcome ambience of the Las Vegas casinos and other settings. In the very beginning of the movie, I had some trouble making out some dialogue, but that was brief and didn't play a major factor. The soundtrack was pretty good, featuring songs from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

Extras

I like to see the theatrical trailer included with movies, so I'm disappointed that they omitted one on this DVD. The deleted scenes don't add much to the experience, but you do get to see Debra Messing in a mermaid costume. The two extras features are nearly identical in their intent to make the viewer more fully appreciate the realism that the filmmakers wanted to bring to the movie by involving real professional poker players. This was effective to the point that it made the movie seem more legitimate, but since I'm not a big fan of poker, it doesn't do much for me. At least we were saved from seeing a blooper reel!

Conclusion

If you like poker, you're going to like this movie. If you aren't all that interested in the game, you probably won't get a lot out of it. The drama between father and son and the romance between Huck and Billie are not enough to keep things interesting, as the poker demands the attention and is the real meat of the movie. If you've been interested in the game, this might be an easy way to become a little familiar with it and perhaps it will provide some understanding as to its appeal. The extras do quite a bit in explaining how the game has changed since its popularity rose in 2003. This is a movie that is well worth the price of rental, but ownership should be for fans only or come at a low price.

Recommended Reading

Don't just take our word for it, check out these resources for more reviews of the movie and of the DVD.

• Movie Reviews
  • Reader Reviews
  • Other Featured Movie Reviews
• DVD Reviews
  • John J. Puccio of DVD Town
  • Jamie S. Rich of DVD Talk
  • Widescreen Review (registration req'd)

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