Luckytown (2000)

Kirsten Dunst plays a young woman (Lidda), who is searching for her father (James Caan). She finds herself at odds with her boyfriend who wants nothing but a carefree lifestyle.

Director:

Paul Nicholas

Writer:

Brendan Beseth

Stars:

Kirsten Dunst, James Caan, Vincent Kartheiser

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirsten Dunst	...	Lidda Doyles
James Caan	...	Charlie Doyles
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Colonel
Luis Guzmán	...	Jimmy
Robert Miano	...	Tony DeCarlo
Jennifer Gareis	...	Sugar
Federico Dordei	...	Frankie
Theresa Russell	...	Stella
Nick Paulos	...	Gill
Joseph D. Kucan	...	Hector
Joe Lacoco	...	Tough Looking Man
Joe La Due	...	Motel Manager (as Joe LaDue)
Dom Angelo	...	Dealer
Sly Smith	...	Mario
Brian Le Baron	...	Kid (as Brian LeBaron)

Storyline

If you find your dad, what happens next? When she turns 18, unhappy Lidda Daniels leaves Southern California to look for Charlie, her father, a professional gambler who abandoned her years before. On her way to Vegas, she picks up Colonel, a video store clerk whom she finds attractive even though they've never spoken. He's is happy to go, in part because he sees himself as a great poker player. It takes Lidda time to track down Charlie, who's involved in his own tangles: he's freshly back in Vegas for high-stakes poker with Tony, an old nemesis. Tony is jealous of Charlie over a woman, plus Tony has a new habit of hiring a hit man to kill anyone who beats him. Can anyone win?

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Plot Keywords:

poker | las vegas nevada | strip club | face slap | texas hold 'em | 

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Taglines:

Luck always runs out... trust no one.

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Genres:

Drama | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Luckytown Blues

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A Plus Entertainment, Entertainment 7, Mediapix

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Lida: is he gonna chase after us
colonel: Who Gill? Nah he still rides a bicycle.

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Connections

References Buffalo '66 (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Sins of the Fathers"
Written and Performed by Christopher Libertino
Produced by Christopher Libertino
Courtesy of Christopher Libertino / Paradox Music

User Reviews

oh puh-LEEZ!

This movie is so dumb. The James Caan parts of it are a lame excuse for soft-core porn and pseudo-gangster antics. The Kirsten Dunst/Vincent Kartheiser parts have the potential to be really, really good -- good dialogue building a truly interesting relationship. BUT. Kirsten's acting sucks -- it just sucks in every way possible. They have no chemistry.

The character of Lidda (Dunst) wasn't "bad" enough for me -- she wasn't much of anything, it was like she was reading her lines and had no clue what was going on. Vincent Kartheiser's Colonel was just about the only believable character -- I liked Colonel a lot. But it didn't help the film much.

I didn't appreciate the none-too-subtly cloaked symbolism (i.e. the "Second Chance Motel," the whole movie happening on and around Valentine's Day). The ending was also stupid -- it's supposed to be optimistic, a "fresh start," but PLEASE. You know she's going to keep smoking, and he's going to keep gambling, and they'll get sick of each other really fast and break up again. It didn't convince me.