Lucky Girl

Title says it all. Watching gambling films for inspiration. Not bad movie. Recommend Mississippi Grind and Cincinnati Kid but this does show the compulsive nature of gamblers and casting oddly makes the story more believable. Worth the watch.

Suspense drama about a young innocent high school girl (though she still tends to be a rather smart-a$$ throughout the whole film) from a middle-class family, who causes friction for the rest of her family and classmates by developing an increasingly obsessive gambling habit, and eventually winds up in the clutches of a rather sadistic loan shark....not bad for a made-for-T. V., which was produced in Canada.

First of all, let me just say that if you are a fan of Elisha Cuthbert, like I am, then "Lucky Girl" is a must-see movie. Although I have not seen a whole lot of her work ("Mail to the Chief" and "24") I cannot imagine it getting any better than this. However, even if this movie had not been blessed with her presence, it would still be a very fine piece of work. Because it is a Canadian made-for-tv movie, I did not expect anything special, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is very well put together and the acting is top-notch. Cuthbert won the 2001 Gemini (Canadian television awards) for best actress in a dramatic program or mini-series and Sherry Miller, who plays her mother, won the Gemini for best supporting actress. The movie premiered in Canada on 4/8/01 on CTV and 'lucky' for those of us in the US, it was picked up by Lifetime, who changed the title to "My Daughter's Secret Life." But whatever it is called, do yourself a favor and see this movie.

Some aspects of this reminded me of the film "21", but this is very much its own story. Of course, I have to admit watching Elisha in this production was its own entertainment, but beyond that this was a reasonably realistic look at the dark side of gambling among highschool kids in the proverbial affluent neighborhood . . . an all too real dilemma that many have faced in real life.

For some, at least, gambling really is an addiction, just as powerful as any drug. I've never been afflicted with it myself, so for quite some time I had difficulty understanding or believing this. But then I saw this happening, witnessed first hand how compelling the grip of this addiction really can be.

Given that background, I could actually watch this production and had no trouble at all believing the story and characters portrayed. For an obscure made for TV Canadian film, this was surprisingly well done.

Other gambling themed films have mostly been over the top, absurdly over done portrayals of this life, but Lucky Girl was pretty much spot on, perhaps the best yet bringing this concept to life. Of course, I'm not going to hint at how this ends, but it's not what most viewers would probably expect, it's a bit closer to actual reality.

Sometimes the best dramas with a message get hidden away in obscurity, this may be just such an example. I can be good with 8 stars.

i watched this programme from start to finish i think its good acting but the plot line is quite scary actually at the end it was scary when katlin couldn't pay the money . what they did to katlin was scary and it's not like other movies/programmes.

the acting was good so i give it a 10