Lucky Them

Lucky me because I found this great little gem entitled, Lucky Them. Toni Collette, plays a darker, humorous role of rocker mag. writer, Elle. She's not losing her edge as much as losing her eagerness to do anything meaningful, anymore. Along comes a story, that is, in part, her story. And, she must choose to visit a painful past relationship. For the trip she brings along a straight up, funny, straight man, Charlie, played by Thomas Haden Church. He is also searching for something gone missing in his life. Add to that a cast of minor characters that steal the show in nearly every scene. But, Toni holds the key to this movie and she never, ever disappoints.

The DVD was finally released so I had a chance to see the movie. I wanted to see it primarily because of the superb cast and I wasn't disappointed by a single one of them. But I do wonder how they got the 8 figure salary Johnny Depp to play a bit role. The story didn't move me partly because the characters weren't fleshed out. One sentence or two was all the viewer was given in the way of background. Tom Hayden's character for instance is wealthy but is he really the buffoon who would marry a hooker who is secretly married and blatantly seeking to make Hayden's character become more materialistic? Johnny Depp's character is described as a "shit." Why? We're never told. It's really a tribute to the cast that this movie exists and damn near works.

Lucky Them was filmed in and around Seattle, and is lacking the obligatory shots of the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and ferries crossing the sound. Usually those scenes are meant to make a film look like it's in Seattle, but really being filmed in Vancouver and I find that annoying.

Toni Collette plays Ellie, a music critic for the print magazine Stax. Her job keeps her out late at night visiting Seattle's music clubs, drinking too much and often leaving with a cute young musician. At one time she was in a long term relationship with alt-rock star Matthew Smith, who went missing 10 years ago and is presumed to have ended his life by jumping at Snoqualmie Falls. Many of his fans believe he is still alive and keep a website listing sightings.

Oliver Platt plays Giles, the editor in chief at Stax. He has the brilliant idea of a 10 year anniversary of the disappearance of Matthew Smith as a big feature story in Stax and gives the assignment to Ellie, who is not so keen on digging up old personal history. Giles makes it clear that her job is on the line if she doesn't produce.

Ellie is out covering the music scene one night when she runs into an old acquaintance Charlie, played by Thomas Haden Church. Charlie is a dot.com millionaire, with plenty of money and time. Recently he has been taking documentary film making classes at a local community college. He agrees to help her in the search for Matthew Smith if he can make a documentary film of her in the process. And so the fun begins! Everyone should have their own Thomas Haden Church sidekick!

The story is intriguing enough without being overly complicated to keep me interested in the outcome.Is Matthew Smith still alive? Will they find him? All I will say is the ending is brilliant and perfect!

Came across this on one of the premium channels on cable. Liked the looks of the cast, and it was just starting (as opposed to most movies I come across on the premium channels, which are usually in progress when I find them), so decided to watch. It was excellent. Toni Collette does great as usual, and Hayden-Church, playing somewhat of a variation of his 'Sideways' character, provides most of the comic relief and a great companion to Collette's more serious role. All of the characters had some likable qualities and were overall decent people, and I enjoyed the story as well.

I had no idea what to expect from this, but it did remind me of 'Sideways,' one of my all time favorites, in that it featured a couple of 'pals' (or acquaintances anyway) going on an adventure and encountering some interesting characters and situations along the way. Well worth an evening's viewing.

This movie is for those people who love independent films that drench the viewer in character emotion and situational drama. You feel this is an indie film from the early beginning..why ? because it focuses on humanity and all of that which is the situational character (of the characters if you need more t understand that point).

..Hollywood simply doesn't do these lovely things because tweenies buy movie tickets.. henceHollywood does BOOMS and POWS and boobs..with little to no plot..it often makes me ill how terrible Hollywood has become..Hollywood forgot that this is an Artform to tell stories.

Megan Griffiths, I had never heard her name before, but I will certainly be looking out for her name in years to come and will be looking to view her older films. I am an indie film lover, because in 2015, you have to watch indie films to get characters and story and plot that wasn't drawn by Stan Lee. ..and that is what Megan has done very well in this, brought great actors in niche roles that highlight and buff this dramatic off-ended comedy into a pearl. If anyone says this is a bad film, they're clearly a knucklehead.

Toni's character pulls you in with her "struggling to survive and find her ground" selfishness that is her defensive line to her rough edged existence of unknowingly battling with her own demons, all while you see her soft spots rise to the surface for her to recognize and then behold in dramatic effort to eventually make her whole once again.

As I said before; each actor, niche like, made this come to life. - Like a good book on a rainy day. Megan Griffiths, Thank You. To the cast & crew as well; thank you all. ;)