Lucky
Follows the journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off-the-map desert town. He finds himself at the precipice of life, thrust into a journey of self-exploration.
-
- Cast:
- Harry Dean Stanton , David Lynch , Ron Livingston , Ed Begley Jr. , Tom Skerritt , Barry Shabaka Henley , James Darren
Similar titles
Reviews
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Harry Dean Stanton was a venerable character actor with a career spanning over 60 years. He died last September being 91 years old, and "Lucky" is next to last movie that he got to star in.It is a bittersweet story about an old man living alone who's actually is in great health and physical shape despite smoking and drinking alcohol regularly. He spends his time watching TV and just hanging around the little town that he lives in... and at one point starts worrying what exactly happens next.Stanton is joined by wonderful supporting cast, including David Lynch (yes, the man more known as director of weird movies), Ed Begley Jr., Tom Skerritt, Beth Grant, James Darren, Barry Shabaka Henley, Ron Livingston, Hugo Armstrong, Yvonne Huff, et al.The problem with movies about being old is that there's been a number of them recently, most of them not adding anything unique or interesting to the topic.I get it, the population of the developed world is getting older, and naturally many of the actors with it. They still need work to pass the time and find some purpose, but as a movie fan, I find it progressively harder to have enthusiasm for such projects.In other words, "being old" has turned into a genre, and genre movies usually don't have enough personality or originality to justify basically watching the same thing over and over again.That's why I tend to avoid CGI animations, superhero movies, and horror movies for example, even if the specific projects are commercially successful and highly praised by the fans.Maybe I'm just being bored that almost every "old person movie" is about having lost purpose in life and/or rediscovering some of that during the course of the story.I understand that for many, aging really may equal to losing active role in life, and just vegetating till one dies. But it's not the same for everybody, especially if one is a spiritual person and doesn't concentrate on mostly materialistic goals in life.And, really, do we need movies - a powerful means of mass communication - constantly re-affirming that yup, this is what's waiting for us near the end?If the reader was hoping that this rant will lead to stating that "Lucky" was different, then I have to crash one's hopes. It does not actually feel markedly more original or deeper than the usual.What it does have, is a lot of charm, certainly more than the average. There's something instantly inviting about the laid-back atmosphere and simple but thoughtful approach, which consists mainly of a bunch of veteran actors hanging around, doing what they're goot at, talking about nothing at everything at once.Even David Lynch is charismatic to watch, although most of us probably think of him as a director, not actor.The first-time director John Carroll Lynch is actually a venerable character actor who's getting old, too. It would have been cool if he reserved a role for himself as well.The great thing about "Lucky" is that it doesn't overstay its welcome, ending in 88 minutes.Lynch the director has adequately understood that there's not enough content to carry the story longer and higher, so it wouldn't pay to reach for something more epic. It's just a little meditation on mortality, the general atmosphere being in priority, and the movie doesn't need more.I like what Detroit News's critic has written about "Lucky": more than anything, it's a tribute to Stanton, who wore each of his 91 years in the deep crevasses on his long face, in his weathered voice and on his frail frame.That's exactly how the project should be remembered: a moving tribute to the legendary thespian.
Sensível. Cheio de vida. Atuação magistral. Vale a pena conferir.
If you have something better to do, like trimming you nose hairs, or scrubing your floors with a toothbrush, then maybe you should just get to work. Those things will be more enjoyable than this film.
"Lucky" puts us squarely into the boots of a nonagenarian - the routine, the attitude and the unknown. We follow Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) as he goes about his day in the tiny desert town where he lives and his interactions with everyone from the employees at his favorite diner to the convenience store clerk to his fellow regulars at the bar.Actor John Carroll Lynch's directing debut isn't as methodical as that sounds, but it has no central conflict either. The screenplay from Logan Sparks and Drago Sumonja disrupts Lucky's routine with just the slightest brushes of existentialism, though in fairness, living every day as a 90-year-old is an exercise in existentialism."Lucky" invites us to peel back the curtain on the creatures of habit that many so often take old people to be and to see them for the person they are and the life they've lived. At the same time, the film has no morbid angle. It portrays Lucky as a man at a stage of his life, not the end of it.Stanton's performance succinctly captures what we know or imagine an old man's life to be like, and he embodies that caricature, but he also goes beyond it when the film challenges Lucky's stubborn attitudes and attempts to awaken pieces of him that don't play out in the average day to day.As expected, Lynch's film is portrait-like. His job is to show us the full range of this human and help us wade into his life. Then the dialogue and scenarios provide thoughts for the film to meditate on in place of conflict. Since much of that conversation must be injected into Lucky's fairly humdrum life, the drama can seem a little contrived, but there's a really beautiful purpose behind pulling those strings and Stanton's performance as he responds is the true reward."Lucky" occasionally gets lost in a hazy intellectual cloud, usually of cigarette smoke, but there might not be a more genuine, sincere, well-scripted and well-constructed film about advanced age.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more