Lucky Them - Auf der Suche nach Matthew Smith

Lucky Them was filmed in and around Seattle, and is lacking the obligatory shots of the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and ferries crossing the sound. Usually those scenes are meant to make a film look like it's in Seattle, but really being filmed in Vancouver and I find that annoying.

Toni Collette plays Ellie, a music critic for the print magazine Stax. Her job keeps her out late at night visiting Seattle's music clubs, drinking too much and often leaving with a cute young musician. At one time she was in a long term relationship with alt-rock star Matthew Smith, who went missing 10 years ago and is presumed to have ended his life by jumping at Snoqualmie Falls. Many of his fans believe he is still alive and keep a website listing sightings.

Oliver Platt plays Giles, the editor in chief at Stax. He has the brilliant idea of a 10 year anniversary of the disappearance of Matthew Smith as a big feature story in Stax and gives the assignment to Ellie, who is not so keen on digging up old personal history. Giles makes it clear that her job is on the line if she doesn't produce.

Ellie is out covering the music scene one night when she runs into an old acquaintance Charlie, played by Thomas Haden Church. Charlie is a dot.com millionaire, with plenty of money and time. Recently he has been taking documentary film making classes at a local community college. He agrees to help her in the search for Matthew Smith if he can make a documentary film of her in the process. And so the fun begins! Everyone should have their own Thomas Haden Church sidekick!

The story is intriguing enough without being overly complicated to keep me interested in the outcome.Is Matthew Smith still alive? Will they find him? All I will say is the ending is brilliant and perfect!

This movie is an easy movie to watch with a good heart. The writing is rather basic but the core plot is intriguing enough to keep watching. This film offers nice emotion without demanding deep concentration from its audience. It utilizes nice cinematography, but it's darkly lit reflecting the pacific north west and the main characters emotions so if you're sensitive to low light films, this will bug the crap out of you; there is zero sun and a lot of dark bar scenes. As for acting Tony Collette is a joy to watch as she makes the story seem real, and Thomas Haden Church takes some getting used to at first but then you'll see he's exactly what the film needs with his quirky yet sincere humor. A good balance of characters and a cool plot makes this movie a decent experience, one where if you invest yourself enough you may find a tear or two at its resolution.7/10

Lucky me because I found this great little gem entitled, Lucky Them. Toni Collette, plays a darker, humorous role of rocker mag. writer, Elle. She's not losing her edge as much as losing her eagerness to do anything meaningful, anymore. Along comes a story, that is, in part, her story. And, she must choose to visit a painful past relationship. For the trip she brings along a straight up, funny, straight man, Charlie, played by Thomas Haden Church. He is also searching for something gone missing in his life. Add to that a cast of minor characters that steal the show in nearly every scene. But, Toni holds the key to this movie and she never, ever disappoints.

The DVD was finally released so I had a chance to see the movie. I wanted to see it primarily because of the superb cast and I wasn't disappointed by a single one of them. But I do wonder how they got the 8 figure salary Johnny Depp to play a bit role. The story didn't move me partly because the characters weren't fleshed out. One sentence or two was all the viewer was given in the way of background. Tom Hayden's character for instance is wealthy but is he really the buffoon who would marry a hooker who is secretly married and blatantly seeking to make Hayden's character become more materialistic? Johnny Depp's character is described as a "shit." Why? We're never told. It's really a tribute to the cast that this movie exists and damn near works.

Came across this on one of the premium channels on cable. Liked the looks of the cast, and it was just starting (as opposed to most movies I come across on the premium channels, which are usually in progress when I find them), so decided to watch. It was excellent. Toni Collette does great as usual, and Hayden-Church, playing somewhat of a variation of his 'Sideways' character, provides most of the comic relief and a great companion to Collette's more serious role. All of the characters had some likable qualities and were overall decent people, and I enjoyed the story as well.

I had no idea what to expect from this, but it did remind me of 'Sideways,' one of my all time favorites, in that it featured a couple of 'pals' (or acquaintances anyway) going on an adventure and encountering some interesting characters and situations along the way. Well worth an evening's viewing.