There aren’t too many modern movies made about poker. Several of them are about gambling in different ways, but it is very common that they come with some sort of criminality as ground story. Ever so often, poker playing is a cinematic instrument to emphasize that someone is a bit of a scoundrel. The bad guy is sitting in a badly lit bar with smoke hanging over him and his mob, cards on the table.

But, no, not too many movies on the particular topic poker. But in 2007 the movie “Lucky You” was shot, with Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore as the leading actors. A wise casting choice; he is handsome and laid-back enough to appeal to the male crowd and most women don’t mind identifying themselves with sweet Barrymore.

The setting is good ol’ Las Vegas in 2003, where poker amateur Huck (Bana) is trying to make his fortune through gambling. He is a skilled player, but less good at knowing when to leave the game. One evening he meets Billie (Barrymore) with whom he starts something in the likes of a relationship with. At the same time Hucks father (played by Robert Duvall) is in town to compete in the high stake games. He is a prize-winning poker player, and the World Series of Poker Tournament is coming up. This is something that Huck is very aware of as well…

Actually, the fictitious World Series of Poker in the movie had many similarities with the real WSOP that was held in 2003. Both had 839 players and both were won by someone who had next to no experience in playing in a live tournament.

The movie admittedly has a couple of flaws. The tempo is a bit too slow, which could have been easily solved with a little better editing. Also, the character of Huck has a poor man’s life which isn’t all that credible, seeing what a great poker player he is.

Apart from that, the movie is worth the time for anyone that likes the work of Eric Bana. Already in films such as Troy and The Hulk he showed that he can balance power and weakness in a believable way. He is very good at playing restraint. In my point of view, Drew Barrymore did her best performance ever in the indie movie Donnie Darko, but she has never had any real problems playing her characters in a gripping way. Too bad she has one foot stuck in the love comedy swamp…

If you are into card games, I’d recommend this movie merely based on how fun it is to watch high stake-poker. In this case the playing might be a bit too extreme to be considered realistic, but personally I don’t mind.

Christopher Reeves probably didn’t believe in Superman either. Still must have been good fun playing him.