Lucky

So I had no plans of seeing this movie except that I happened to be attending a festival at Village East Cinemas and saw that "lucky" was playing with a Q/A and my boyfriend wanted to watch it. The movie is Good. Not Great but solid. The actors did a good job and the story, although familiar, (I'm an immigrant) had an interesting spin on it. It was unapologetic and I appreciated that. This is a real independent film and you can tell the budget must have been tight, which was acknowledged in the Q/A so that much more respect to the filmmakers for pulling it off. After hearing everything they had to do to get this made, you appreciate it that much more. Kudos to the team. The music was great too.

First, the only real redeeming value I found in this film is that I grew up and lived in the areas that 75% of this film was shot at, for 35 years. 31st Street in Astoria NY, LIC, Queens Blvd., Woodside, Sunnyside and some in Manhattan. Seeing the old Hood was cool but, barring that, the film was contrived and clearly in the "B" movie category.

The Protagonist/Director, Did a pretty good job but that's where it ends. Clearly he is the only talent in this mess. The antagonist is about as menacing as a bad pimple. In that neighborhood, (or any in NY for that matter) if a guy like him acted the way he did in real life, he would have had his head handed to him 10 minutes into the film. (Based on his "bad guy" portrayal) The story is a familiar enough one that rings true as I've had friends in similar situations (illegal and trying to gain citizenship) via any means possible. But, to believe a guy steps into a cab and brings the driver (who he has never met) into his world of drug dealing, murder, prostitution etc., is ridiculous. The fact the film tries (and fails miserably) to get the viewer to believe that those scenarios really happen clearly tells you the director has never dealt with the streets before.

Perhaps, for some Park Ave. spoiled kids this might be believable, but, for anyone who grew up in any major metropolitan city to believe this is a far cry from truth. As the saying goes, "where there is smoke there is fire"....regarding this film, someone should have doused these flames by the second act!

If you can view this film for free, then give it a shot, otherwise, don't spend a dime. It's a fairy tale, not a crime thriller.

Extremely deft rendering of current immigrant experience (South Asian) in the NYC underbelly recalling not only Scorsese but even Scott B and Beth B by a young filmmaker who will go far. Accolades from the LA Times are highly justified pointing to the multinational, multi-everything, cast who gel almost as an ensemble. The perspective of a NYC taxi driver working the night shift is iconic and the immigrant's outer-borough reality in high relief. The Manhattan sophisticates at Cinema Village East were floored when one beautiful shady character, brilliantly realized by Galla Borowski, burst into Russian in the cab. One sensed creator Bari Kang was playing himself though having turned his life around. Hard-hitting, violent, mournful and haunting. Representations of miserable struggles, drugs and desperation, hearkening to years when Gotham was totally out of control, a time forgotten by many comfortable New Yorkers.

Always on the look out for new indies. Saw a good review in LA Times for Lucky. It wasn't my favorite film but it was solid nonetheless. It's a familiar story but it keeps going at a pretty good pace. Lucky and Fernando had good chemistry and I'm pretty sure we will see more work from this director. Always extra points for diversity.

I've never written a review before, I only just rate any movies I see, but felt I should for this one so no one else gets fooled! So I've read all the reviews and as the only other 1/10 mentioned, all are fake except for the 4/10. It's funny how even after the 1/10 reviewer posted their honest review, more fake accounts were created to increase the overall score, again! So what the reviewer that also rated it 1/10 said, they took the words right out of my mouth... this film was total amateur hour and a waste of my time!

This movie is really slow. The acting is very bad and looks like the actors are struggling to say their lines, except for Fernando. He starts off OK, but then just gets too into his role and over does it. The worst actor here is Sunny. Where did they find this guy anyway? Again, way to over-reacting. The background music is very dark, again, too much for a drama. I really couldn't finish this movie, it was that slow and boring.

It's sad to see such fake reviews. Don't waste your time, even if you see it for free like I did, my time is more valuable!