Card sharp
'Lucky You' avoids the usual gambling movie cliches
May 4, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist
With the exception of "Rounders," movies about poker rarely get it right.
Even in the classic "The Cincinnati Kid," with the immortal showdown between Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson, the final hand is straight out of fantasyland. They're playing five-card stud and McQueen gets a full house -- only to learn Robinson has a straight flush. That happens about once every 100 years.
Same thing with the Texas Hold 'Em showdown in the otherwise-stellar "Casino Royale." You could watch every hand in every episode in televised Hold 'Em show ever filmed, from "Poker After Dark" to "High Stakes Poker" to "Celebrity Porn Poker" (I'm not kidding), and you'd never see anything like the final, four-player hand. (Nut flush, full house, higher full house, straight flush.) It was WAY over the top.
"Lucky You" gets it right. The main romance is a tad corny and the poker metaphors are hokey, but this movie knows its Hold 'Em. Just about every hand -- and there's a lot of poker in this movie -- is played in plausible fashion. Most of the table talk is spot-on as well.
...more - http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/369428,WKP-News-lucky04.article (Archive copy)
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