Lucky Them

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.

Better than I thought it would be. But then, I've never seen anything that features Toni Collette that I didn't enjoy. There's a very, very small handful of screen actors that can breathe real life into any character and she is among them.

Set in Seattle and actually filmed in Seattle rather than Vancouver, B.C. (how refreshing is that?), it's the story of a rock journalist who sleeps with every musician she covers, while still pining for the one she met and fell in love with in high school who mysteriously disappeared (or killed himself?) at the height of his success 10 years earlier, leaving her bereft and crushed.

When she screws up again on her latest piece, her editor assigns her a "this is your last chance or I'm going to have to let you go" story, which is to be about tracking down what happened to the mysterious, missing legendary rocker, her former lover.

As she reluctantly begins the quest she bumps into a man she very briefly "dated" previously (Haden Church), a tech bazillionaire who now aspires to be a documentary film maker. Through a mishap they become unlikely partners in her search, with him filming the progress.

The story is about their journey into the past and her finally letting go of the relationship that's still messing up her life 10 years on.

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

This movie is for those people who love independent films that drench the viewer in character emotion and situational drama. You feel this is an indie film from the early beginning..why ? because it focuses on humanity and all of that which is the situational character (of the characters if you need more t understand that point).

..Hollywood simply doesn't do these lovely things because tweenies buy movie tickets.. henceHollywood does BOOMS and POWS and boobs..with little to no plot..it often makes me ill how terrible Hollywood has become..Hollywood forgot that this is an Artform to tell stories.

Megan Griffiths, I had never heard her name before, but I will certainly be looking out for her name in years to come and will be looking to view her older films. I am an indie film lover, because in 2015, you have to watch indie films to get characters and story and plot that wasn't drawn by Stan Lee. ..and that is what Megan has done very well in this, brought great actors in niche roles that highlight and buff this dramatic off-ended comedy into a pearl. If anyone says this is a bad film, they're clearly a knucklehead.

Toni's character pulls you in with her "struggling to survive and find her ground" selfishness that is her defensive line to her rough edged existence of unknowingly battling with her own demons, all while you see her soft spots rise to the surface for her to recognize and then behold in dramatic effort to eventually make her whole once again.

As I said before; each actor, niche like, made this come to life. - Like a good book on a rainy day. Megan Griffiths, Thank You. To the cast & crew as well; thank you all. ;)

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.