Luck

Although the first episode of this series was painful to get through, each episode thereafter gets better and better. After an inaudible beginning "Luck" just might careers and an industry.

As a horse lover and long time fan of Nick Nolte, I wanted to like this show but the first episode was loaded with track jargon, slang, broken English, low quality sound, and heavy accents. There also wasn't much seen of Nolte in the first episode. Fortunately I had the first 3 episodes programmed on the DVR so I had a vested interest in at least watching these recorded episodes. By the third episode I enabled closed caption so that I could follow better. I wish I had not deleted the first episode because I would have re-watched it in closed caption. This first episode is chock-full of information and innuendos, probably why it was so difficult to get through.

This is unfortunate because the series gets better with each episode and I'm sure the lack of clarity in the beginning has meant the series has lost viewers.

Viewers should know, however, that Nolte and Dustin Hoffman are not in this series for nothing. Nolte, whose notorious good looks is now replaced with grey hair and lots of character is a nostalgic owner/trainer brokenhearted over the past with a keen sense of a good race horse. Hoffman starts out stiff and almost out of place, but then his character is out of place due to a series of previous events.

Integrity and love is really what this series is about. The four gamblers, you find, after a few episodes, really love each other. The jockeys love to ride, Nolte loves horses, and Hoffman loves his right hand man. What seems evident is that some day soon, all of these characters will come together in an as yet unknown common experience.

The sound quality of this series is perhaps the only flaw and it's a big flaw. This seems to be common in today's movies and series. You understood every word Bogart said in Casablanca. It is called "projection." Old school directors and actors knew about this. I don't know what happened or why contemporary films ignores the need for people to hear and understand what characters are saying. It's almost as if they think this some type of technique but it isn't and is surely the reason, perhaps the only reason that this show may not get the viewers it deserves. Despite this,I rate this series high which says just how good this series could be.

If you love horses, racing, Nolte, Hoffman or Farina, I highly recommend this series, despite the audio issues which I hope, given a second season, they fix. If you love a good race, which there seems to be one in almost every episode, this series is also for you. "Luck," given the chance, may revive the horse racing industry. It reminds you of just why this sport is the "sport of kings." Hope they will fix the audio, first time I can remember sound being such a "handicap."

There is an undeniably large amount of jargon used in the pilot episode, however with a little bit of careful listening the meaning of almost all of it can be easily 'sussed' out. The pilot stands out in my opinion for the creative use of camera angles which allow the viewer to immerse into the horse race. The editorial work is also quite slick. The performances of Nick Nolte and Dustin Hoffman are quite good and I am excited to see Patrick J Adams in the coming episode.

I terms of story-telling and plot lines, the last few minutes of the pilot do help clear up some of the prevailing confusion regarding the direction of the story. All in all the pilot is a solid effort and achieves its goal of setting up the stage for a potentially gripping series.

Luck was an epic show. In only 9 episodes, it weaved together numerous, insanely complex story lines which many people probably had trouble following. But what started as a 'too dense for anything but pretense' project soon turned into an amazingly broad show whose characters included mafia, rounders, trainers, jockeys, agents, horse owners, and many others - to create an incredibly smart show which, in my opinion, sought to expose the world of horse racing to the many who are uninformed, or simply would not normally care. The characters and writing were top notch, and this definitely should have been allowed more time to flesh out.

Hopefully another network won't be as scared of PETA and will pick it up.

Luck is the kind of grand sociological series that creator David Milch and to a lesser extent HBO as a network are known for. It presents a cross-section of one out-of-the-way spot in the dying world of horse racing. That sense of death and decay pervades the entire narrative, which stars an assortment of broken-down men headed up by Dustin Hoffman and extending to the quartet of hard-luck gamblers that are perhaps the soul of the show. And yet there's a sense of hope that occasionally shines through and makes it all not just bearable but beautiful.

This all makes it sound arty and kind of dull, and indeed the series has a very deliberate pace that might turn some viewers off, although that's an essential part of its style. But even without the overdose of sex and violence you can get from other HBO series, Luck provides some exhilarating sequences, most notably the brilliantly-shot horse races. Add that to great writing and acting and you have a show that satisfies on every level.

Well, up until the end, that is. Luck is doomed to be a one-season wonder, cancelled not because of low ratings but because of a series of horse deaths on set. It still works as a whole, but with only nine episodes, it's hard not to wonder what could have been. Still, what we have is a gem of a series, and well worth checking out for any fan of high-quality drama.

LUCK is fast and stylish. Michael Mann is exec. producer of LUCK and director of the first episode. Mann is the writer/director of "Heat" and LUCK has the same pace and style.

There is plenty of insider chatter here. The kind of dialogue that is second nature to the people associated with horse racing but that leaves the rest of us a bit dizzy. LUCK is the clash of very different characters and it gives Mann as much contrast as the cinematography that has become his signature. Washed up gamblers, hungry employee's, wealthy owners and the people one step from financial ruin or rejuvenation are painted in different colors of neon or grays as success and/or slime in all its forms contrast with the strength, beauty and earthiness of the central characters: Horses, fodder for the justification of so much excitement and sadness.

LUCK is a convergence of who's who at Santa Anita. I'm grateful that so many deserving thespians wanted in on this project. I'm sure they know much about their peers but their on-screen "history" with each other is believable. Can the script justify the talent? So far, yes. The writing seems to have as much good teeth as its all-star cast - pay attention and hold on.

This premier reminds me of "Mad Men" on AMC, a channel I ALSO got for free for the first 3 (enjoyable) episodes. I did not bite on AMC but LUCK is making a good argument for HBO.

I'm certain the language will soak in with the rest of the story but I have the inside on "bug", as the agent calls the young Jockey. "Bug" is a moniker used for substitute jockey's. Any rookie that replaces an expected rider is noted on a racing program with an asterisk and an asterisk looks like a bug (the definition is courtesy of David Milch).