Luck of the Draw

Jack Sweeny is a young man just trying to get a job. Turned down at another bank due to his criminal record he meets a girl, Rebecca, but also witnesses a 3 way shootout between 2 groups of criminals and the cops over a suitcase containing perfect plates for counterfeiting bank notes. Jack grabs the plates and attempts to sell them via his friend Zippo. However with at least three different groups ready to kill him for the plates, Jack finds it's just one double cross after another.

In the pitch meeting it must have sounded great, being sold as a sort of Pulp Fiction with more action and more punch. With the cast it must have looked promising – not a-list actors but a good line up of faces (just like in Pulp Fiction!). However somewhere along the line it all went wrong. Someone forgot to tell the writers and the director that this was what was wanted. So instead of an interesting tale all intertwining together, we have a daft thriller where each connection made just serves to make it all feel more convoluted and silly. I don't mind some leaps of faith, but how many unlikely events are we meant to swallow?

This is made worse by the lack of fun and pace in the story. It just drags along with silly scenes providing no action or humour. Dennis Hopper shooting his own men is meant to be hilarious but it's just plain silly and a little sickening. As for the big shootouts at start and finish – they are directed with no flair and no excitement. Making the whole thing passable but certainly worth of it's UK DTV status.

The cast looks good – hence my setting of the video recorder for it. However most seem to be trying to play it for laughs (without success) further undermining the film. Marshall is weak in the lead, with so much in support surely a better name could have been sought for the lead? Hopper hams it up with no thought of character – in fact no-one actually produces a character I ever cared about. Roberts clearly thinks this is a spoof of some sort. Forsythe is about as mysterious as a brick and he signposts his character's twists like he was directing traffic. Madsen seems happy just to show up and make the QT connection by riding in his car playing music from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Ice-T turns in another gangster role but he looks skinny and tired – is time catching up with him? And Patrick Kilpatrick! He looks cool and is always reliable as a heavy but does a laughable Irish accent (Belfast lad speaking!) and appears to be a terrorist of some sort (don't let the name fool you). Yet it took several goes for us to get his accent and his character is never explained even briefly – he literally just suddenly is involved in the plot!

Overall this is not as bad a mess as I have made it sound as it is clearly good enough for teenage boys who just wants boobs and bangs without character or plot – a Saturday night rental if ever there was one! However to imagine how it must have appeared to those making it and seeing what the dogs dinner it became is just plain sad. Avoid.

Good entertainment! The script must have been written in one week or so. They probably only had money to hire Madsen and Hopper for a couple of days. The romance line is pretty weak. We don't get to know who the brute is. Hopper is changing his accent midway in the movie. The shoot-out is just plain boring. Plus that Sweeney fellow had the facial expressions of a well groomed hipster but... I liked it! Hopper and foremost Roberts are not taking their acting real seriously, and it shows, but they seem to be having a good time. My opinion: enjoy this film but don't take it to seriously. In other words: don't see this movie without alcohol.

No five words say `straight to video' quite as effortlessly as `from the director of GHOULIES'. As far as I can gather, LUCK OF THE DRAW is the only film in two decades to earn this label. Director Luca Bercovici has also gathered together a b-grade rat-pack to star in his comeback film.

The video A-list come in all shapes and sizes. Michael Madsen is an acclaimed poet, and Dennis Hopper directed THE LAST MOVIE and EASY RIDER. Along with respected artists, the film boasts a bit-part for Ice T (transitional rapper), some kid apparently in GLADIATOR, and Eric Roberts, who never needed to pay cinema admission to see his own work.

It starts off a bit like a b-grade rip-off of Michael Mann's HEAT, a contradiction in terms seeing as that film is the greatest of all cops & robbers pictures. It ends a little bit like.put it this way, if you haven't ever seen this ending, you spent the '90's under a rock.

There are only two types of DTV films worth renting: those that are surprisingly good, or those that are woefully bad. In that sense, LUCK OF THE DRAW is a failure because it is average all the way.

I took a gamble by renting this one DVD - it certainly had potential, with the good storyline and great actors (Madsen, Hopper).

After 15 minutes however, things really went downhill and it became obvious that this is a total Tarantino ripp-off. The story is very similar to True Romance and the music reminded me of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction - except that these weren't the original tracks from the 70s :)

It's really a b-grade ganster movie with none of the subtle filming or dialogue we get in Tarantino's movies.

4/10

Developed a bad habit of checking these reviews before watching a new flick. Glad I didnt get suckered in by the bad press. Strong cast carries the story. I mean, how can you go wrong with Hopper/Madsen/Ice- T/Roberts/Forsythe et.al. And if you think these guys are miscast you're missing the humor. Eric Roberts is hilarious as an obvious southern transplant that leans heavily on his best guinie accent when he tries to be menacing. And Sasha Mitchell from the old "Dallas" clan is hysterical as a hulking moronic bonebreaker. You gotta believe that Ice-T's not acting when he threatens to go to work on a couple of the boys with a "blowtorch and vice-grips." I loved it. OK, this film begs for an alternate ending but otherwise a fun ride. Doesnt deserve the criticism 8/10.