| LUCKY NUMBERS |
2000 - USA
Director: Nora
Ephron - Reviewed by Kerri  One teeny-tiny little left-on-the-counter-for-days
slice is all this movie gets, and I’m being generous because of the 15 seconds
where I actually laughed. This movie is so bad I don’t even know where to
begin. The previews, I’m sorry to say, are really skewed to mislead you into
thinking this is a light-hearted, funny film.First of all is the acting. Let’s not see any more films starring John Travolta. He’s just not funny anymore. He plays Russ Richardson, the celebrity weatherman of Harrisburg, PA, who also owns a failing snowmobile business due to Harrisburg’s lack of snow all winter. Russ gets himself in a pickle with his finances and needs cash quick. After a botched robbery attempt on his own snowmobile store, his friend Gig (Tim Roth) suggests the answer is right under his nose: the state lottery. This should be easy for Russ to pull off, because not only are the state lotto numbers drawn right in his news studio, but he’s sleeping with the lotto girl, Crystal (Lisa Kudrow). Together with Gig they devise a scheme to rig the lottery and reap the rewards. But like any scam, things start to go awry and the scheme turns from bad to worse, much like the plot of this film. It astounds me that Nora Ephron directed this. (Note to Ephron: Go call Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, write something sappy, set it in Seattle, and let the box office forget you ever touched this film. Please, I’m begging you.) Ephron couldn’t decide whether this was a comedy, a twisted tragedy, or what. It was trying to be Fargo and failing miserably. It was trying to imitate Quentin Tarantino and failing miserably. It was trying to hold my attention and failing miserably. If there was any bright spot in this film, it was Ed O’Neill ("Married with Children"), who plays the smarmy station manager and of course does a good job. Bill Pullman shows up as a weird, bumbling cop that had no business being anywhere near the studio lot. And if anyone could tell me why the heck this film was set in 1988, I’d love to hear it. Of course, we all know how inherently funny 1988 is. The dialogue, the plot “twists”, the sub-plots, the other characters, all melded together into one big headache that made no sense and added nothing to this film. My recommendation: Rake the leaves. Empty the dryer lint. Pick hair out of the bathtub drain. Visit Aunt Edna. Hang out at 7-11. Count ceiling specks. All of those activities are a better way to spend the afternoon than trying to sit through Lucky Numbers. |
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