Lucky You (PG-13, 2007)

Huck (Eric Bana) is a second-generation professional poker player looking to win the next hand. But he can't seem to keep from showing off, "blasting" his competition until he's penniless, hocking stolen goods and his late mother's wedding ring. When a big competition comes to Vegas -- along with his estranged superstar poker player dad L.C. (Robert Duvall) and aspiring singer Billie (Drew Barrymore) -- Huck tries to show that he's finally grown up. But can he win the competition, his father's love, and Billie's heart?

You know televised poker showdowns have truly saturated pop culture when one is the central theme of a Hollywood movie starring America's sweetheart Barrymore and great actors like Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. Unfortunately, LUCKY YOU is a bad bet, full of saccharine platitudes, endless poker scenes, and almost no chemistry between any of the characters. (Part of the problem is that the movie's theatrical release was delayed more than a year, which didn't make its poker-centric plot any fresher.)

The predictability of the answer is almost nauseating. It's almost like Lucky You is trying to be a less-interesting, poker-focused version of The Color of Money. None of the characters are very well developed or well written, and non-poker players will watch the epic card-game scenes with boredom. In the end, none of Lucky You's characters, save for Duvall's debonair gambler, are likeable. Say what you will about Tom Cruise's scenery-chewing bravado in Color of Money, but at least there's some energy there. Bana's performance is too subtle to keep viewers' interest for two whole hours.