From the perspective of a life-long die-hard movie enthusiast, I really enjoyed Lucky Bastard and find myself surprisingly haunted by some of the imagery and the darkness of the story's main antagonist. It would be easy to dismiss Lucky Bastard as something trite and low-brow and seemingly not worth the time to pop some corn. Any movie in which the backdrop is the adult film industry suffers an immediate stigma and a lot of closed minds unwilling to consider it as a legitimate movie-going experience. That is unfortunate because there is much to treasure here, from the frequently hilarious dialogue to the spot-on performance of Don McManus to the shocking moments of violence that seem totally plausible in today's world.
Lucky Bastard is a highly entertaining exercise in the found-footage genre, lending the impression that we are watching real people in a real situation. Unlike other found-footage movies that focus on the supernatural and therefore become questionable in their realism, Lucky Bastard unfolds with specific and tangible reality. Some may question the acting ability of the cast, but don't be fooled by knee jerk critical reactions. These actors know what they're doing to sell the concept of the movie, as do the artists behind the camera. The very premise, that of a young man who wins a date with his favorite adult film star and visits the set of an adult website to perform in a scene, is 200% believable in the p*rn-saturated cyber reality we live in today. And if you're paying attention, the movie addresses something far beyond the on-screen dalliances of a hopeful everyman and his dream woman. It's ultimately about the dangers of exploitation and the risk of gleefully humiliating so-called geeks, people we label without really knowing them or what they are capable of unleashing. When you consider the facts of today's world in which troubled young people walk into shopping malls and schools and IHOPs to open fire with automatic weapons, Lucky Bastard presents a disturbingly potential reality of what can and does happen when you don't know what you're really dealing with.
To give away Lucky Bastard's plot turns would do a disservice to the prospective viewer. I would simply say give the movie a shot if you want to be entertained, amused, titillated, and ultimately shocked. The movie will gently carry you along for a while, making you laugh, misleading you into a lazy state of casual observation until the first shock comes. The latter half of the film is far from humorous, and there are moments that will resonate, especially when you think about the internet-obsessed guy next door who seems harmless yet a little creepy.
Lucky Bastard puts a fresh spin on the found-footage genre and is effective in delivering laughs, surprises, and an ick factor that you'll think about after it's over. It's also worth mentioning that it's one of the few thrillers I can think of that delivers gruesome events in bright daylight, and that stylistic choice really stood out to me and helps distinguish Lucky Bastard as a unique and believable tale. I think this movie has a very strong appeal to a young, hip audience, and I'm really hoping it can get the attention it deserves and rise above those who would carelessly dismiss it. Check it out!
