Lucky (2011)

A wannabe serial killer wins the lottery and pursues his lifelong crush.

Director:

Gil Cates Jr.

Writer:

Kent Sublette (screenplay)

Stars:

Colin Hanks, Ari Graynor, Jeffrey Tambor

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Hanks	...	Ben Keller
Ari Graynor	...	Lucy St. Martin
Ann-Margret	...	Pauline Keller
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Detective Harold Waylon
Adam J. Harrington	...	Steve Mason
Mimi Rogers	...	Ms. Brand
Allison Mackie	...	Grace
Tom Amandes	...	Jonathan
Michelle Davidson	...	Leslie Singer
Olivia Sather	...	Shannon
Eric Kirchberger	...	Sunny Mart Clerk
Heather Marie Marsden	...	Allison
Bryan McClure	...	Sandwich Guy
Bennett Wright	...	8 year old Ben
Lena Noel Krussel	...	8 year old Lucy (as Lena Krussel)

Storyline

Ben Keller is sort of a bumbler who carries a torch for Lucy, a co-worker he's known since childhood. She's indifferent until he wins $36 million in the Iowa lottery; trouble is, he murdered the young woman who bought the ticket (it's not his first murder), but the mercenary Lucy doesn't discover Ben's secret until their honeymoon. She figures out that he murders women who look like her, so she's probably safe: she'd like to wait for the next lottery check to come in the mail, then run away. Ben knows she knows and wants her to love him anyway. With a police detective sniffing around and Ben's protective mother watching things carefully, can Lucy make a great escape?

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Plot Keywords:

lottery | murder | serial killer | police detective | honeymoon | 

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Taglines:

Even a serial killer can win the lottery

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 July 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tetemes összeg

Filming Locations:

9926 Fieldcrest Dr, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ten/Four Pictures,Tax Credit Finance,Mirabelle Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Colin Hanks also played a serial killer in season 6 of "Dexter"

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Goofs

When Grace finds the 2nd check and opens the envelope the check is correctly made payable to Benjamin Keller, however the 'Authorized Signature' is also Ben's name (signature) (which also looks like a handwriting font as the 2 L's and E's in Keller are exactly the same)

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Quotes

Grace: You seem like such nice people. Such nice people!
Ben Keller: We're still nice people, Grace, but we're also in love. And love's kinda scary. I'm starting to realize that now.

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Connections

References The Dukes of Hazzard (1979)

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Soundtracks

Here Goes Something
Written by Matthew Caws, Ira Elliot and Daniel Lorca
Performed by Nada Surf

User Reviews

Love it or hate it, this film is amoral

Very rarely do I have any desire to post a review. I've seen it, I know what I think, and usually someone else has said everything that needs to be said. Not so with "Lucky."

This film shocked me with its amorality. And I liked it.

Before I watched this, I thought, perhaps, that it would be akin to "Dexter" - a serial killer that the viewer is asked to empathize with, maybe forgive, and perhaps even root for. I mean, what else could I expect from what the synopsis seems to suggest is a serial killer rom-com. I was wrong. No one in this film is asking for forgiveness. No one in this film seems to even imagine that a universal or objective morality exists which would pass judgement.

This is one of the only, if not the only, film I have seen that exemplifies rationally self- interested actors carrying on their affairs as though no religious or societal morality existed or, at the least, was valid. Even in the films based on Ayn Rand's fiction (a person who championed "the virtue of selfishness" and fought against religion and collectivism/humanism), there was always a wink or a nod when some character violated the Judeo-Christian-humanist morality. The same can be said of most of the horror and "shock" films - the shock and horror are usually caused by reactions to the violation of societal norms. Here, there is nothing.

One previous reviewer implied the film was boring. I wouldn't go so far, though I would accept "anti-climatic." Indeed, amorality is certainly that. If one starts from a place where killing and kissing are of equal objective moral value - none whatsoever - then it stands to reason that neither occurrence has any higher meaning.

In "Lucky", the lack of regard for morality, as understood by the majority of the populace, is not obvious. It isn't a clear part of the plot. It isn't relied upon to engender fear or revulsion. I almost didn't notice it until near the end of the film. It is as if the film was made entirely by people unaware that such a concept as "objective morality" even existed. Of course it wasn't. If for no other reason than that, "Lucky" deserves praise.