Lucky You

  Usually the lucky people in the movie theater are the ones who avoid the poker themed movie and toddle off to the auditorium that is showing Dragon Wars. There have been some good ones in the past, but usually they are as formulaic and predictable as an episode of Laverne and Shirley.  Lucky You breaks from a convention that would qualify as torture under federal guidelines. Instead of falling into the trap of trying to shoe-horn a story into a poker tournament while carbon based props deliver lines and soak up screen time until the final climactic hand ends with a bad beat in the favor of the hero, this film actually opts for character development and a three-dimensional story that is much more then a simple card game.  Eric Bana plays Huck, who is exactly the sort of jaded, troubled card player that gives the game of poker a bad name. Drew Barrymore portrays Billie, an aspiring singer from Bakersfield, CA who fits into the world of casino poker about as well as an alter boy who accidentally blundered into Nevada's famous Bunny Ranch.  The interplay between the characters not only has the intended tension that is common between romantic leads, but also contrasts her charming, naive innocence with his more cynically worldly personality. There are sad touches of reality as Billie never seems to get that Huck is bad news, even after he has done everything from benign condescension to outright theft of the young singer's money. She comes back for more like a poodle who believes it is actually a bull terrier.  Bana provides the viewer with a competent performance while Drew Barrymore delivers an extremely good presentation. No matter how well Eric redeemed himself from his disastrous portrayal of the Hulk's David Banner with this film, or the usual high quality work we have come to expect from Drew Barrymore, neither of them could stop Robert Duvall from stealing just about every scene that he was included in.  Screen veteran Duvall plays L.C. Cheever, Huck's father. Not only is his relationship with his son strained, but he is also Huck's major obstacle to the one thing he wants very badly: a World Series of Poker bracelet. The animus between the two that is heightened by the pursuit of the same prize adds another interesting element to an already colorful film.  Anybody who enjoys the television popularity of poker will like this film. Not only does it provide healthy doses of the game itself, but it is like a voyeuristic look into the life of a WSOP pro, albeit a fictional one.