A loner poker player has made a living putting himself first and taking everything he can get from everyone he meets. All of that changes when he meets a beautiful woman that opens his eyes to the world and helps him repair the relationship with his father.

It was only a matter of time that Hollywood start making some poker-themed movies. The poker craze reached unusual heights a few years ago and films like LUCKY YOU were Hollywood’s attempt to cash in. Although I expected movies like this to be made, I didn’t expect them to be made by such talented people. And I didn’t expect those talented people to make such a disappointing film.

I’m a pretty big fan of Curtis Hanson. He usually does a good job of capturing the emotions of his characters and uses their surroundings to heighten their moods and feelings. However, he failed on both accounts with LUCKY YOU. I felt the main character’s (Huck) emotional drama was really forced and we had no back story to tell us where he was coming from. We figured out he had a strained relationship with his father, but aside from a passing story, we don’t know why. Then there was the city of Las Vegas, which served as a great, but underused supporting character. Unlike Los Angeles in LA CONFIDENTIAL or Detroit in 8 MILE, Las Vegas wasn’t nearly used to its fullest extent.

Speaking of not being used properly, what happened to Drew Barrymore? Normally, she’s the cute and romantic female lead, but here she seemed kind of retarded. I don’t say retarded as the slang insult, I mean she actually seemed like she had a mental handicap. I actually thought that was going to be part of the story, and I expected her older sister to break the news to Huck that he’s been dating a mentally handicapped lounge singer. However, that storyline never happened, so I assume it was just a bad performance from Ms. Barrymore.

Eric Bana wasn’t much better. I like the guy, but I’ve started to question his emotional range because his recent roles seem to require more drama than he’s capable of giving. This one might be the fault of the screenwriters and maybe even Curtis Hanson. The entire film just didn’t work and felt strained, especially the love story. I like poker as much as the next guy, but don’t use it as a gimmick, and don’t make it the only interesting part of the film.

Video: Widescreen (1.85:1): Colors all around looked crisp and sharp despite the colors used in the film were very bland, which is hard to do for a film set in Vegas.

Audio: English 5.1, French and Spanish 2.0 with English, French and Spanish subtitles: The audio did its job, but surround channels weren’t used or needed.

The Players at the Table (18:01): This featurette focuses more on the poker playing in the movie. It features a lot of interviews and behind the scenes looks with Eric Bana and some of the real players that appeared in the film. It seems there was a lot of effort into making sure Bana looked like a real poker player and I think they succeeded. I’m still impressed with the fact that he has such a strong accent and it never comes out on screen.

The Reel Deal (14:26): This featurette focus on the poker players in the film and the year (2003) poker really became a national craze. All of the famous players sit down and talk about the year and how it changed themselves and the game. I’m still not sure what the big draw to poker is, but there’s no question it’s as popular as ever. This feaurette was nice because we got to hear from a wide variety of people.

Deleted Scenes (9:08): These scenes weren’t very long, but they actually cleared up a couple of questions I had while watching the film. I thought Debra Messing was underused and in the first scene we get to see more of her and we find out what she actually does. Unfortunately, we have to put up with more of Drew’s singing, which is never a good thing.

If you love poker and you’re dying to see it on the big screen, then LUCKY YOU might fill a void. However, I’d go with ROUNDERS and MAVERICK among others to cure that poker fix. This one just had too many problems and failures to make it a safe recommendation.