LUCKY STAR is playing at SBIFF (Santa Barbara International Film Festival), and I had the opportunity to see an early look – here’s my Spoiler Free take:
I love gambling films. HOUSE OF GAMES and HARD EIGHT started my journey within this genre. What draws me to them are the complex, flawed characters looking for their next big score. That’s why I was excited to review LUCKY STAR, the new film by writer/director Gillian McKercher.
LUCKY STAR is a familiar character study about a family man with financial hardships who is trying to use gambling to solve them. The key difference in this iteration of this well-known story is how Lucky (Terry Chen) got so far into debt. It’s a clever take that makes it stand out above similar titles in the genre.
Watching Lucky make one “unlucky” decision after the next is not an easy viewing experience. The character has most of the answers before him but can’t seem to make good choices to escape his debt. Because of this, LUCKY STAR tends to drag at times. The key highlight here is the family dynamic. Everyone has secrets, and watching them reveal the truth about one another made for a compelling ride.
In poker terms, LUCKY STAR is a muted feature that doesn’t quite hit the “river.” However, it does have enough for audiences to “buy in and “check” it out.