Lucky You is a fairly endearing romantic drama that takes place in the dog-eat-dog world of gambling. The plot is standard, and the characters rarely rise above being stereotypical. But the marvelous performances by the likeable cast help to partially redeem the film. 

Drew Barrymore is irresistible playing Billie Offer, a babe in the woods who comes from a small town to visit her older sister (played by Debra Messing) who lives in the big, bad city. 

Sparks immediately fly between Billie and Huck Cheever (played by Eric Bana who is also quite good), who is a professional card player. We know that he’s a bad boy because he rides a motorcycle and dresses in black leather.  

We also know right away that the good girl, Billie, will fall for him. Of course, her big sister warns her about Huck, and this only serves to make him more attractive in Billie’s eyes. 

Huck is a decent person, but his choice of occupation makes his life very unstable. At times, he has dozens of hundred dollar bills in his pocket, and at other times he is reduced to pawning his ring for a card game entrance fee.  

The only gambler who is in his league is L. C. Cheever (Robert Duvall), who turns out to be Huck’s father.  There is much tension between Huck and his deadbeat dad, and you get the feeling that Huck despises him because he fears that he will end up just like him. 

The film culminates in a big card game between the two Cheevers, which was somewhat reminiscent of the student/mentor showdown in The Color of Money. Its outcome was the only thing in the film that didn’t surprise me. 

At times the film does appear to glamorize gambling, and it doesn’t get very deep into the dark side of gambling addiction. The  gamblers are outlaw-like figures with nerves of steel. Since they live life according to their own rules, they come off as the coolest characters. 

Also, Robert Duvall, who is one of the very finest actors in cinema, is basically wasted in a role that could’ve been played by anyone. Robert Downey Jr. is also wasted in a walk-on. 

As far as gambling films go, Lucky You is not as original or spell binding as Croupier (which was one of the best films of 1998).   

Despite these criticisms, audiences looking for something warm, light, and fuzzy, probably won’t be disappointed.