Lucky (2017)

User Review

• 

  BarneyNuttall

  6 / 10

  Lucky has all the makings of a great film. Helmed by the son of the great David Lynch who also has a role in the film while dealing with a subject matter highly personal to the legendary Harry Dean Stanton. Yet, when watching I felt the strangest of sensations. It was as if I was watching two different films. From chunky to haunting dialogue or from flat to surreal cinematography, Lucky has been vivisected into an amateurish film with scenes of brilliance.
  
  The glue that holds the film together is Harry Dean Stanton's Lucky. He shuffles through his days like a shriveled hawk with a sense of wonderful indifference. However, when he falls and realises that he is on his last legs, Lucky begins to look into the void as his friends begin to worry about him. Stanton is so incredibly old yet he manages to keep up with the rest of the cast and shines in his lead role, giving a personal touch to the character.
  
  However, this glue cannot hold the Jekyll and Hyde together. The film's dialogue goes from chunky, "emotional" bile to heartfelt and haunting recounts. Just when we've had a wonderfully dark monologue about Kamikaze pilots and smiling in the face of death itself, the film feels the need to regurgitate the message through blocky dialogue which feels like walking on lego bricks. Similarly, the cinematography goes from "Wow! What a great shot!" to "Wow! What a flat shot!" There is a scene in a bar where Lucky gets rather riled up at a newcomer. Here, the lighting is incredibly flat. It isn't bad persee but there is no character in it. Yet, as soon as we step outside, an alleyway lights up in blood red as Lucky's face is illuminated with neon green. Did I sneeze and miss a crew change? WHo went on break?
  
  Lucky has all the right elements to be a great film and it times achieves this! I was moved when Lucky lies in bed, corpse-like, staring into nothingness. But, when chunky dialogue broth disturbs the smooth mixing pot, one cannot rid oneself of the bad taste that was left in ones mouth.

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