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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 21 June 2007

Drew Barrymore gets dangerously close to Eric Bana in Lucky You

Drew tries her hand with a poker player hustler in Vegas

LUCKY YOU
Directed by Curtis Hanson
Certificate PG

TROUBLE is on the cards for Huck Cheever – as in huckster, the kind where you count your fingers after shaking hands – when he meets lounge singer Billie (Drew Barrymore) in the heady atmosphere of the Las Vegas poker tables.
Handsome and smooth-talking, Huck (Eric Bana) is a lifelong gambler who learned early at the kitchen table playing for nickels against his dad (Robert Duvall).
Now poker has become his life, leaving little room for friends or even lovers.
Billie appears to be an innocent abroad in a man’s world – but there’s more to her than meets the eye.
The pair become involved in a subtle interplay as he first steals $1,200 from her, loses the lot, then tries to win back her trust.
The man is a loose cannon, and should come with a health warning, as seen by her sister (Debra Messing) who warns: “He’s 10 points a hustler, commitment zero!”
The main thrust of the story centres on the cut-throat rivalry between father and son – and the chips are down when Huck finds himself facing his hard-nosed father in the final of the World Poker Championships.
Veteran director Curtis (LA Confidential) Hanson cranks up the tension, but unless you’re a poker addict who understands just what’s going on, the action may seem oddly low-key.

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