Set among professional gamblers in Las Vegas, Lucky You introduces us to a fascinating world and then turns away from it in favor of a drearily generic romance. It’s like taking a kid to the zoo and only looking at sparrows. Eric Bana stars as Huck Cheever, a guy who lives from game to game and pawn shop to pawn shop. As long as we’re at the poker table, Lucky You holds us in thrall. Yet much of the movie is spent on Huck’s unlikely romance with a naive singer played by Drew Barrymore. Barrymore’s presence backfires – she has far too much charisma and liveliness to be stuck in such a second-thought role. Directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and costarring Robert Duvall as Huck’s poker legend father.
