Lucky Chances

I too saw this movie at a young age of 14, but I had read the book first. I agree that mostly of the characters were casted wrong. For instance in the book Maria is described as a fair skinned woman with white blond hair yet Sandra Bullock played her. Being the early 1990's no network would have been prepared to handle the open gayness of Dario (no-doubtly it wasn't "PC" yet) I think they could have added a bit more violence when trying to explore Mobster actions. It would be interesting if they remade the movie now would it resemble The Sopranos in some way would it be violent and hoping they would make better casting choices?? The book was better than the movie you were able to get more involved with the character's and their story.

Seriously?

A blonde lucky?

If you've read the books, then don't watch this. I know you won't be able to resist, but you'll end up regretting it. This is nothing like the book. The cast looks nothing whatsoever like the characters in the books; nothing.

This is nothing but a lame, flat interpretation of an otherwise colorful, full of life, story. None of the details that made the stories so much fun can be seen anywhere. Horrible!

Chances and Lucky are great reads, but to say that the miniseries doesn't do it justice is a HUGE understatement. It's not the worst thing ever made. I just wish that the powers that were had been a little more faithful to the book, at least in the casting part. I mean, blonde, blue-eyed Nicolette Sheridan as Lucky, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! That also goes for Sandra Bullock being cast as Maria and Shawnee Smith being cast as Olimpia. The casting director was either drunk or in a hurry. The closest that the casting people got was with Gino, played by Vincent Irizarry. There were also a lot of plots that were skipped, like Dario's homosexuality, Carrie's abuse and rape as well as how and why she came to be a prostitute, the stories of Gino's abusive father, and the list goes on and on. I would pay anything to see a "CORRECTLY CASTED AND NON-POLITICALLY CORRECT" remake of this movie, whether it be on the small screen or on the big screen, preferably on the small screen, or otherwise many subplots may have to be sacrificed due to time. Let me know if it ever happens.

I have always loved this TV-series, and now I'm rewatching it for the fourth time I think. (Many years between the times) I also read the book in my early teens. I think this filmization is underated, it has that nice 80:s vibe that brings nostalgia and makes you feel good, the type casting and acting serves it's purpose perfectly. It's hard to not get engaged in the turns and thrills of the story.

I can't believe some reviewers have given this mini series such low ratings! True the movie doesn't hold a torch to the book, but that being said, I don't think anyone who's ever read ANY book first and then seen the movie version afterwards can say they didn't leave anything out. To be honest, I read the book a long time ago & thoroughly enjoyed it. When they showed the mini series on tv, I was also a little disappointed that so much had been left out but as with any book turned movie there are always things either left out or changed. They would have had to make the mini series much, much longer than it was. (Which would have been fine with me!) And let's not forget it was made in 1990. Just keep an open mind & don't expect the movie to be 100% identical to the book! While I agree some of the casting was hit or miss, IMHO, Vincent Irizarry was fantastic as Gino, Sandra Bullock as Maria, Michael Nader as Enzio, Phil Morris as Steven, & Nicolette Sheridan, while I never envisioned her to play the part of Lucky, she IS beautiful and she totally nailed the sexy, smoldering thing that Lucky always seemed to have going on. Now can we please talk about Tim Ryan as Lennie Golden for a moment? Holy moley, he looked as well as played that part to the tee - perfectly! He has that boyishly handsome charm about him & that sexy smile and laugh of his made me wish I was Nicolette Sheridan every time she made out with him! Talk about "lucky!" 😄 I was so bummed out that Tim didn't play Lennie in the sequel, Lady Boss. The other guy didn't hold a candle to him! I came on this site to see what else he's played in so I could see more of him. Bummer he doesn't play in more movies so I can lust over him longer than just short clips! 😁 It's too bad Jackie Collins has passed on since she was always one of my favorite authors. It would have been nice to see a lot more of her books turned into movies!