LUCKY – Review

Harry Dean Stanton says farewell in the movie LUCKY, which turned out to be the beloved actor’s last. Not much happens in LUCKY and its slow, unhurried style may not appeal to everyone, but this movie has a big heart and a moving performance by Stanton that acts as a summary of  his long and extraordinary career.

LUCKY follows Lucky (Stanton) and his friends and neighbors who live in the dusty desert town of Cave Creek, Arizona. Lucky is 90 years old but fiercely independent, rejecting any idea of assisted living. The film follows his routines over a few days of his  life. Lucky smokes, takes a sponge bath, gets dressed, listens to Spanish-language music, does yoga, and smokes some more. Lucky’s interactions with others consists of eating at a diner run by his friend Joe (Barry Shabaka Henley) where he does his crossword puzzles, and a daily stop at the local watering hole. There he chats about mortality and spirituality (he’s an atheist) with barmaid Elaine (Beth Grant) and a couple of fellow regulars; ageing lothario Paulie (James Darren) and Howard (David Lynch), who’s dealing with the loss of a pet turtle named President Roosevelt. Lucky, feeling run down, visits his doctor (Ed Begley, Jr.), who diagnoses his lethargy as a matter of simply getting old and advises him to not stop smoking (“quitting will probably do you more harm than good”). At the shop where Lucky buys his cigarettes, the Mexican storekeeper (Bertila Damas), invites him to a birthday party for her son Juan (Ulysses Olmedo). There, Lucky sings the Spanish song ‘Volver, Volver’ .

There are no surprises in LUCKY and it’s a bit modest and brief at just 87 minutes. But the directorial debut of actor John Carroll Lynch, greatly enhanced by the evocative cinematography of Tim Suhrstedt and the sensitive music of Elvis Kuehn, is a deeply affecting look at an old man near the end of his life. There’s a wonderful scene where Lucky swaps war stories with a fellow vet he meets at the bar (played by Stanton’s ALIEN co-star Tom Skerritt). When Stanton tells of being a cook on an LST in the Navy during WWII and shares other anecdotes, these are events that actually took place in the actor’s life. Stanton’s minimalist performance shows his complexity and range as an actor who can do so much by doing so little and he makes LUCKY an enjoyable, and worthy, swan song.

Read my interview with LUCKY director John Carroll Lynch HERE

4 of 5 Stars