Luck Of The Draw is one of a zillion straight to DVD, second tier crime thrillers that aren't about all that much besides a gaggle of cops, criminals and whackos all chasing some elusive valuable property, in this case some counterfeit money printing plates. What makes this one stand out is its unbelievable cast if heavy hitting tough guy actors, all subtly sending up their own image with some wily antics and breezy, cheerfully violent fun. Twin Peak's James Marshall plays "", an ex con kid looking to go straight. But of course the movie has other plans for him and soon he's caught up in a heated collision course involving several unsavory characters. Volatile mafioso Gionti Ponti (Dennis Hopper on the ham train to scenery chewing city) lost the plates in a messy robbery/heist. Eric Roberts is a hoot as his enforcer Carlo, his dumbfounded reaction to being shot for the first time is priceless. Dogged federal agent Max Fenton (an amped up, excellent William Forsythe) has a shady agenda of his own. Ice T shows up with his usual laughable sneer as a grouchy boxer. ""'s only friend in this mess is a perpetually hungover Michael Madsen as Zippo, the archetypal S&M porn producer with a heart of gold. Patrick Kilpatrick wanders around in a turn of pure comedic gold as a calm, cool Irish contract killer who, after seeing the film like five times, I'm still not sure who works for. It all snowballs together into a mish- mash, Reservoir Dogs style confrontation, but but the journey getting there is half the fun with this one. You could get this cast together for a game of lawn bowling or a live read of an ikea instruction manual and it would still be a great time. Fun bit of trivia: Mickey Rourke was originally cast in Madsen's role, but walked off the set in a huff because (get this), the producers wouldn't let him hold his chihuahua during the filming of his scenes. Classic Mick. Anyway, this one's worth a gander, if you can wrangle up a copy from some obscure corner of the universe.
