Cling on "Lucky You"

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"I'm glad you liked Lucky You," the Las Vegas Review Journal's Carol Cling wrote earlier today. "As I did. It's one of the few Las Vegas movies to accurately capture the feel of living here -- especially the contrast between glitzy vs. gritty, older neighborhoods vs. shiny new suburbs.

"But it's an indication of how fast things move in this town that many of the things that are in the movie have changed. Including the Aladdin, which became Planet Hollywood Resort a week or so ago, and Binion's Horseshoe, which is no longer the Horseshoe -- just Binion's -- and no longer hosts the World Series of Poker.

"Also: I tracked the Lucky You production in my weekly 'Shooting Stars' column, which covers movie and TV location work here. According to my archives, the reshoots took place the week of Nov. 28, 2005. The original shoot took place March 28-May 6, 2005."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 2, 2007 at 11:55 PM

comment #1

Sam Adams says ...

Any idea why it's set in 2003? I could see 2005, if that's when it was shot, but why 2 years earlier?

Posted by Sam Adams at May 3, 2007 4:30 AM

comment #2

DavidF says ...

Planet Hollywood Resort? Yikes!
I didn't even know that chain is still around.
It's nice to know the Red Staters who usually crowd Circus Circus will have somewhere else to go. IT's unfortunate they'll be closer to Caesar's, Bellagio and the rest of the places Jeff and his Blue State ilk populate :)
And the place is designed to look "Arabian" so how are they going to....nevermind. It's Vegas, I know.

As for the movie, the personnel involved suggest it has potential despite looking awful formula. Fingers crossed.

Posted by DavidF at May 3, 2007 6:26 AM

comment #3

breadlymoore says ...

"Any idea why it's set in 2003?"

The movie takes place during poker's switch from gambling pastime to hipster diversion.

Great film. Lose the love interest subplot and it would've been nearly perfect.

Posted by breadlymoore at May 3, 2007 7:46 AM

comment #4

tholl-yung says ...

"Ever since Chris Moneymaker, a virtual unknown, emerged from the world of Internet gambling to win the World Series of Poker in 2003Ã¢â‚¬â€ thus creating the so-called Moneymaker effect, which convinced many untutored amateurs that even they could beat the pros -- the game has exploded... The Moneymaker year, 2003 -- the same in which 'Lucky You' is set -- was only the second in which the "hole card" camera was in use (showing the player's hidden cards for use in delayed broadcasts), a change that inevitably altered the pro game's psychology. HarrahÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s bought the World Series trademark the following year and moved the event from its longtime home, Binion's Horseshoe, to Harrah's own casino Rio..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/movies/29ande.html?ex=1335499200&en=75e1e76c6eaccf3a&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Posted by tholl-yung at May 3, 2007 7:49 AM

comment #5

Mike Ock says ...

Everyone I know who's seen this film has told me it's awful. I knew Jeff was gonna like it cuz I know his M.O. already when it comes to A List writers and directors. Especially if he's friendly with them.

Let's look at the track record just in the past few years:

Elizabethtown - Jeff's friendly with the director, gets a copy of the script a year before it's released, and can't stop raving about it, and has the cast and the movie all over his Oscar Bubble.

Until...the movie BOMBS at Toronto. Most common complaint? The script. I guess that stand up comedy routine at the funeral must play better on the page.

Clerks 2 - Arguably, one of the worst films ever made, directed by Wells's former employer Kevin Smith. Not surprisingly he likes it.

A Good Year - Widely regarded as an unfunny mess, directed by Ridley Scott and starring A Lister Russell Crowe. Jeff not only likes it, but even refused to acknowledge it was a romantic comedy. Artists of this caliber would never DREAM of putting out a comedy. It would be beneath them. Instead he gets pretentious with it and refers to it as "A light hearted mood piece. Tonic for the soul."

Miami Vice - Not going there. Too easy.

Neil Labute's Wicker Man remake - Nominated for several Razzies (I think it even managed to snag a couple), but that didn't stop Jeff from wondering aloud about why the studio refused to show it to the media in the weeks before it opened, and why it was being into dumped into theaters on Labor Day weekend. "Surely it can't be a thing of quality?" That's exactly what it was. NO filmmaker is immune to making crap. Even ones with the pedigree of a Neil La Bute.

Reign Over Me - See Miami Vice.

Grindhouse - A vanity project gone horribly wrong, directed by two of the hottest directors in the business, gets a rave here. color me surprised.

Lucky You - It's release date has been delayed more times than a Jet Blue flight coming out of Newark, usually the kiss of death for any movie.. but not on this site!! Strong endorsement from Jeff. (Who did a great interview with the film's screenwriter, Eric Roth last winter btw.)

Not even when it's at 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Posted by Mike Ock at May 3, 2007 7:58 AM

comment #6

romeoisbleeding says ...

Wells does not meed me or anyone to defend him but you know a helluva lot of folks come to his site every day and read it. I check it several times a day. He must be doing something right to keep us coming back. Until I get my own web site and have tons of people reading me everyday, I will not bitch too much about what I enjoy reading here.

Posted by romeoisbleeding at May 3, 2007 8:08 AM

comment #7

T. S. Idiot says ...

A Good Year is fluff but competent, diverting fluff. And Marion Cotillard and Abbie Cornish, said the horny ol' bastard, are much more than fluff.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at May 3, 2007 8:31 AM

comment #8

Craig Kennedy says ...

Mike, is the laundry list of grievances you've got there written on tattered notebook paper and do you keep it wadded up in an angry little ball on the nightstand by your bed? Do you unwad it every morning and smooth it out and read it outloud so you can great each and every single day with a fresh dose of rage?

I realize I'm being a hypocrite here because I get as annoyed with Jeff as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is Jeffmcm, then I'm outclassed) and I often bitch about it, but not in such detail.

You might be right on every count, but I don't consider Jeff to be a film critic. I don't depend on his opinion and I don't expect him to be unbiased. I also don't read his reviews until after I've seen the movie. It's maybe 50/50 that I agree with him. Maybe less, but I still enjoy his take on things.

(wadding list of angry grievances with Mike Ock back into a little ball)

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 3, 2007 9:05 AM

comment #9

Craig Kennedy says ...

Is there really any point now to me correcting my spelling errors other than to show I know I'm an idiot? Didn't think so.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 3, 2007 9:06 AM

comment #10

Mike Ock says ...

Hey CJ,

LOL. No, I just have a really good memory. I understand Jeff is not a critic, but he IS a journalist and as a journalist I think he needs to excercise a little bit more objectivity when it comes to his darlings.

He's getting predictable, and that's never good.

I'll bet my life savings that if Curtis Hanson (or someone of his caliber) directs the sequel to Ghost Rider, not only will Jeff LOVE it, but he won't even refer to is as a comic book movie. He'd writing something like:

"Frankly, the thing works on more levels than I feel comfortable getting into. Hanson, being the brilliant auteur that he is, took what was at best a mezzo-mezzo graphic novel, and transformed it into a first class fantasy piece, that will probably fly over the heads of the Rubes who will no doubt be seeing Norbit 2 this weekend. For shame. I bet these are the same morons who elected George W. into office, not once but twice!! God help us all."

Posted by Mike Ock at May 3, 2007 9:26 AM

comment #11

OddDuck says ...

Hey Ock, my memory disagrees with yours on some of Well's past posts and I think you're being way too critical and unfair, but your imagined Ghost Rider 2 review parody is one of the funnier things I've read on this board in awhile.

Posted by OddDuck at May 3, 2007 9:55 AM

comment #12

Craig Kennedy says ...

He'd have more credibility as an opinion setter if he was less biased true, but I enjoy his personal slant...plus it allows me to make fun of him for getting all weak in the knees for shite like A Good Year. I'm a small man, I know.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 3, 2007 9:56 AM

comment #13

jeffmcm says ...

CJK, I agree with you, the problem is that Wells doesn't have exactly that take - he thinks of himself as a full-blown, objective film critic on the same level as anyone writing for the New York Times or the Village Voice or anywhere - or at least, that's the sense I get from him, and not that he considers himself just a dude with a blog who has friends that he likes to support every so often. I don't recall him _ever_ copping to any of his friendships with Arndt or any of the others.

Posted by jeffmcm at May 3, 2007 12:41 PM

comment #14

Craig Kennedy says ...

I think he once used the "I'm not a critic" line when someone took him to task for walking out on a screening, but I'm sure you're right about his perception of himself. It's a perception I don't share, however.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 3, 2007 3:02 PM

comment #15