Customer Reviews

Lucky Numbers (Widescreen)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Lucky Numbers is a very enjoyable comedy to view. The film has more than its fair share of funny moments, largely due to the great performances of the ensemble cast led by John Travolta in a very fine comedic performance.

This is a very well written and directed comedy. It brilliantly uses the talents of its cast to great effect, particularly Lisa Kudrow, who is absolutely wonderful as the dipsy femme fatale, and the two Michaels, Michael Moore and Michael Rapaport, are very funny in their respective roles. In fact, the whole cast of relatively well known actors do great work with their parts. True, most of them are playing stereotypical roles that they have done in other movies, but playing on their comedic strengths is what makes this film fun to watch.

I would highly recommend this film for anyone looking to relax with a good comedy.

It's an interesting approach at what people will do for money. Still, I hated it. John Travolta was terrible [as usual]. Lisa Kudrow, who was the reason I watched this, was so incredibly unlike her role on "Friends" as she was a murderous goldigging nympho-biatch who made you mad every time she was on screen. I was very disappointed with her performance. I can't believe this hilarious comedic actress went for such a ... part. The other supporting actors were no good either with the exception of Bill Pullman, who was pretty funny as the "I could give a damn about it" cop. The best thing about this movie though, is the cute, gullible waitress named Wendy who's only on screen about five minutes throughout the entire film. Anyway, skip this one. It was just plain awful.

Not only was the movie set in Harrisburg, most of it was filmed in Harrisburg, as well as the suburbs(Palmyra, Hampden Township and Wormleysburg) and is loosely based on the Real Lottery scam in Pennsylvania on April 24, 1980 when the Daily Pick 3 game was rigged by the station announcer in Pittsburgh (the Late Nick Perry, who I had the pleasure of growing up watching do various bowling programs. In Pittsburgh, "Bowling for dollars aired immediately after the drawing on Channel 4, WTAE.) Just like in the movies all but the #4 and #6 balls were injected with paint, and 6-6-6 came up. The drawings were moved to WHP-TV (channel 21) the next day, where State Officials kept a better eye on things. Nick and the stage hands at channel 4 went to Jail (here in Camp Hill).

So the story was as advertised, amusing, not great; and it was great to see big time celebreties visit town. Especially Ed O'neill. Those of us who lived in Harrisburg for a long time will get the inside jokes, and geographic references. My wife yelled at me, when I was over-commenting, finding bloopers, and trying to pick out the local scenery, most of which had buildings remodeled, and again shot outside of Harrisburg in the suburbs. So some of the local bloopers showed Russ trying to drive the truck down Route 22 and Devonshire Road (in Downtown Colonial Park, where I live), and it wrecked. Was he trying to get to I-81 or I-83? Not the way to get to Colorado from Harrisburg. Eighteen wheelers don't go down Devonshire Road (winding and hilly and two-laned)too well, and Rt. 22 at that intersection is a 6-lane divided highway. There is actually an auto dealer at that corner, but was not used in the filming.

Like I said us locals caught some of the inside jokes (like the Perry County School Teacher who locked the student in the broom closet, and the mobster from Linglestown), which made the movie more enjoyable than the critics gave it credit for.

For those who don't know although there is no channel 6 in Harrisburg, there is (sort of) well, was really WTPA-TV. WTPA-Radio is still on the air. New owners years ago changed the call letters to WHTM, and is actually channel 27. Keeping that in mind, Al Bundy, er, Dick Simmons comments on real-life then WTPA now WHTM weatherman Chuck Rhoades, who has a breif cameo in the movie, and on whom Travolta's character is loosely based (Actually Bill Murray's wheaterman in Groundhog Day is closer to the real Chuck Rhoades, a thirty year fixture on local TV). To me, Chuck is the big star in the movie, even though he is eeen from a distance for a few seconds. Chuck's best acting job to date. And he wasn't acting! That clip is from 1988 when the movie was set, when Harrisburg had one of its biggest heatwaves ever. Anothe Harrisburg weatherman, Don Rooney has a cameo scene at the TV station.

When the movie was filmed out here, it was the biggest deal to hit Harrisburg , since the Three Mile Island accident. Yes, Harrisburg is really like that-- and Denny's is the Classiest Bistro in Town, at least the one in Hampden Township (US Rte. 11--where JT is seen jaywalking to the Evergreen (actually Hampden) Diner.

All in all an enjoyable movie for us in Harrisburg.

"What was he thinking?" was all I could think while watching this ... This is, without a doubt, John Travolta's worst movie since 1978's Moment by Moment with Lily Tomlin. The script is [weak] and the performances are lackluster. Lisa Kudrow, as in every role she plays, is downright annoying with her ever present snarling lip. Travolta is too talented an actor to waste his time on [stuff]like this. It's more suited to a ...comic like Rob Schneider or Adam Sandler. Director Nora Ephron also loses some credibility for having anything to do with this film. ...

Not The best comedey i've seen in recent years but Travolta just
shines as the arrogant T.v Weatherman Russ Richards who with a
not so bright ditzy blonde and a bar owner friend plan to to fix
his station's lottery money to himself as a way out of his finacial troubles. Travolta has a flare for harmless comedy and seems to be having fun in doing so and does not take the script too serlously. Lisa Kudrow is also funny endearing to the part quite well. This is the kind of film you want to watch when you want to forget about the pressures of life for a little while.

This movie is great; the cast is good, all the actors play wonderfully, the story is original, the soundtrack is made up of a variety of tunes, good vibes for most of them .

The movie raises plenty of questions:
- are we in the 4th dimension ?
- is Mildred going to come back from Florida ?
- are there limits to enjoyment ?
- how much money is it possible to earn at the lottery ?
- what is money for ?
- donations: to who ?
- what are lucky numbers ?
- what is luck ?
- what is music for ?
- what is an accident ?
- what is the best insurance ?
- what is beauty ?
- what is universal ?
- who needs details ?
- what is intuition ?
- what is civility ?
- what is language ?
- what is time, how should we use it ?
- what is an animator (or leader)?
- what is an agent for ?
- was the murdered body naked ?
- what is hate ?
- why are deterrents necessary ?
- are we allowed to lie ?
- is it okay to get a bit more money if it is only fair ?
... and many more questions.

The whole story is outstanding in many respects, and some of the good sequences are:
1) absolutely all the scenes with Lisa Kudrow, she is a fantastic actress in this movie ;
2) the scenes with the two policemen, the white and the black ;
3) the scene when one policeman shows interest in Cristal but not the opposite;
4) the snowmobile ride by John Travolta;
5) the robbery in the couple's flat; (this shows that to get something from someone else, you could threaten this person to death, after scaring him, to break his will);
6) just before the robbery, the way the White policeman feels that the passer-by is actually up to something wrong;
7) the scene in which Cristal finally gets an agreement with Dick, after tense negociation resting on deterrents.

What I liked best in the movie:
1) the behavior of Cristal;
What I disliked:
1) the death of [plot spoiler];
2) Dick.

Finally, this movie teaches us what the qualities of a good animator (or leader) should be:
1) a leader is the cherry on the cake, but the cake is the concept;
2) a leader does not leave room to chance;
3) a leader can be trusted 100%;
4) a leader makes sure there are no lies;
5) a leader never sets unrealistic deadlines;
6) a leader avoids confusing, abstract gestures when talking; the message has to be 100% clear;
7) a leader never criticizes others in their back.

Also it opened up some ideas inside me, like :
- routine is ugly;
- building is great;
- having experience is great;
- having a young mind and a capacity to marvel like a child is great.

Slightly vulgar, but apparently one of the best comedies America has ever seen since "Hot Shots" I reccomend this movie to anyone thirteen and above. It's got a great cast - Colin Mocrie, John Travolta, Lisa Kudrow, who else do you need? Trust me - you gotta see it to believe it!

As a movie it just didn't quite meld together. Don't know if it could have been improved in the editing room or not. However, that aside, the characters and performances (esp. Kudrow) by the great cast was hysterical and well worth the price of rental.

Maybe it's one of those movies you have to watch more than once to appreciate, but this didn't really do it for me. It was great to see Lisa Kudrow letting her mean cousin die and finding the doll in the bathtub, but other than that, it wasn't as good. It's like something is missing. Maybe a more appropriate soundtrack could have helped.

It is a mystery to me why this film bombed so bad, unless it is that people just can't handle one person (Travolta) have a too long streak of success.

I fully enjoyed it. Nice story, some really funny moments, and great characters. Bill Pullman's lazy cop character for instance.