Lucky Them

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.

Now and again, with patience, a little gem comes across the video on demand that somehow didn't make it in the theaters. This film was made in 2013 and seems to be headed for a re- release. Don't wait. See it now on video on demand courtesy of Amazon. It is a treat. Caroline Sherman has the original idea for the story and it was adapted foe the screen by Huck Botko and Emily Wachtel. Megan Griffiths directs with élan.

Ellie Klug (the very fine Toni Collette) is a music critic for a failing rock magazine, SLAX' in Seattle headed by the pot-smoking Giles (Oliver Platt) in Seattle. She tends to write articles about not so talented music stars, such as street singer Lucas Stone (Ryan Eggold who is proving he can be more than a warped spy on TV's The Blacklist). They have casual sex but the rock around Ellie neck is an article she is forced to write about a famous rock star Matthew Smith who ha been missing since an apparent car wreck some years back, and who Ellie was in love with back in his heyday. She ultimately agrees to do a story (more like investigative journalism) mush at the insistence of her best friend, bar tender Dana (Nina Arianda). Lacking money to make a trip to Matthew Smith country, she borrows form Giles, is ripped off by Lucas, borrows from a very strange wealthy Charlie (Thomas Hayden Church) who wants to make a documentary on Ellie looking for Matthew Smith. How that all ends up is a study of the human psyches as attached to loves of the past and longings of the present but to tell more would be a spoiler. It should be added that Johnny Depp makes a very brief but central appearance….

The cast is exemplary, especially Toni Collette who at last has a role that allows her to show just what a fine comedienne as well as serious actress she is. Tune in to the video on demand offer Amazon presents – no telling when they'll release a DVD of this treasureable film. Highly recommended.

A certain person even harder (to find). I had no idea who the actor would be portraying him (though apparently he is on the cover of the disc), therefor was positively surprised to see him at one moment during the movie. You also get a very mature love story, even if you have a very clichéd character following a woman and trying to help her (for very obvious reasons).

I reckon some people might have issues with the female lead character and her freedom to choose how to love (when, where and how often too). But this is not about bashing her or belittling her, it's about a journey and you shouldn't even think about that. It's a very personal story and very well made on too, that happens to star a woman. Very well played, with quite a few "real" moments thrown in there. Romantic? Depending on your view. Sometimes comedic too, but more a drama