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Lucky You
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 Lucky You Production NotesTagline: Change your game. Change your life.
A gifted poker player juggles an intense relationship with his girlfriend's sister, while trying to raise the money to play in his field's annual "World Series" -- even if it means squaring off against his father.
Set in the world of high-stakes professional poker, the story focuses on Huck Cheever (Bana), a gifted young poker player confronting his personal demons as he attempts to win a world championship tournament in Las Vegas.
In "Lucky You," director Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential," "Wonder Boys," "8 Mile") brings us a story based in the world of high-stakes Las Vegas poker. Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) is a blaster—a player who goes all out, all the time. But in his personal relationships, Huck plays it tight, expertly avoiding emotional commitments and long-term expectations.
When Huck sets out to win the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker—and the affections of Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore), a young singer from Bakersfield—there is one significant obstacle in his path: his father, L.C. Cheever (Robert Duvall), the poker legend who abandoned Huck's mother years ago.
As these two rivals progress toward a final showdown at the poker table, Huck learns that to win in the games of life and poker, he must try to play cards the way he has been living his life and live his life the way he has been playing cards.
Shuffle Up and Deal
“Lucky You,” the new romantic drama from writer / director / producer Curtis Hanson, is set in the world of high-stakes poker in Las Vegas in 2003. A longtime poker player himself, Hanson offers, “I wanted to do a relationship story set in the world of poker because I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the skills one must develop to be a good poker player are almost the exact opposite of the skills needed to be successful in a relationship.
Deceit, or bluffing, which can destroy the trust needed for a successful personal relationship, is a big part of the game. There is also no collaborative spirit; it’s an individual sport. Poker players must be completely self-centered; they can’t have sympathy and win. They can’t worry about whether their opponent can afford a loss. By contrast, warm human relationships are based on caring, empathy, honesty and often putting the other person first. Because of this dichotomy, it seemed poker could be both a metaphor and a mirror for the different relationships in a story.”
Screenwriter Eric Roth actually began writing the original script for “Lucky You” before the spike in poker’s popularity. “I wanted to create something different about gamblers and gambling because I think all great gambling movies are love stories at heart, about winning and losing and finding your way,” he says.
Hanson adds, “We set the story in 2003 because that was the year the world of poker dramatically changed. Three things came together to make that happen. Internet poker was exploding, allowing amateur players from all over the world to hone their card skills online. The hole card camera was introduced that year, which made the game much more popular on television because it allowed the audience at home to see the players’ hole cards and learn about the nuances of betting from the top pros. And it was the year an unknown amateur internet player named Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker, making it possible for everyone to say, ‘That could be me.’”
Hanson and Roth collaborated on a final script even as the fast-growing poker craze was bringing a new dimension to the story of a dynamic young poker pro named Huck; his estranged father, legendary poker champion L.C. Cheever; and an aspiring singer named Billie, who comes into Huck’s life and becomes, at once, his muse and his conscience.
Producer Carol Fenelon remarks, “I think Curtis believes the ability to distinguish truth from artifice is an important element of any relationship. In many ways, the world of professional poker in Las Vegas provided the perfect opportunity to explore that idea. Poker can only truly be mastered by those who excel at discerning the difference between honesty and deception. The ability to read people—to understand their ‘tells’ and then act on that knowledge to one’s personal advantage—is perhaps the biggest key to conquering the game.”
Producer Denise Di Novi notes that the poker boom coming when it did was “a nice coincidence because more people are playing and watching poker and understanding the game. Poker really is used as a kind of metaphor for how the characters lead their lives and deal with their relationships, so the more people understand poker, the more meaningful that aspect of the story is to them and the more they can get out of the movie. It’s about the game of life and how you play it to get the most out of it. How much risk do you take and how much do you open up?”
Face Cards
Eric Bana was cast in the central role of audacious poker player Huck Cheever, and Curtis Hanson says that the actor came with an uncompromising approach to his work that made him perfect for the role. “Like Huck, Eric Bana is a blaster; he came at his part full out. During the rehearsal period, he not only worked on his scenes but immersed himself in learning the game of poker. He is a true chameleon. Unlike many actors who twist characters to fit their own personalities and characteristics, I think Eric looks at each part as an opportunity to truly become someone else.”
In becoming Huck Cheever, Bana says that he developed an insight into what drives his character. “I think Huck has competitive juices flying through his system so the world of poker really suits his personality and his lifestyle. He enjoys it; it gives him a sense of purpose, but he’s so immersed in that world that, really, nothing else exists for him. I think other people believe he could be one of the great poker players if he could keep his head together, but I’m not sure he knows himself what his true potential is. In a way, he was born to be a poker player, but he needs to sort out other elements in his life if he is going to take his game to the next level.”
Huck’s innate ability at the poker table and his seeming inability to reach his potential can both be traced back to one “element” in his life: his strained relationship with his father, L.C. Cheever, a maverick poker player in whose shadow Huck has always lived and played. “Huck is haunted by his father’s reputation in the poker world,” Bana comments. “We see his behavior change when L.C. is around. He’s a much more secure player when his father is not around and becomes a little hotheaded when L.C. is present. It definitely has an effect on him.”
In what the filmmakers agree was something of a casting coup, Academy Award winner Robert Duvall stars in the role of L.C. Cheever. “We wanted L.C. to be an almost iconic figure, so the choice of Robert Duvall to bring him to life was an easy one,” states Hanson. “He brought all of his creative power to the role, beautifully establishing the essence of the man—fiercely competitive, tough and intimidating, both as a father and as a player.”
Duvall is only half joking when he says that he didn’t know the difference between a flush and a straight when he was approached to play the role of a great poker champion. “I really didn’t know if I could do this part because there was so much to learn. But it was a very sophisticated script—very smart and very accurate—and Curtis is a talented director, so I thought it would be interesting. I wish I could have gotten the script six months earlier, though, because I almost had to decode it, but I did my research and now I understand the game…somewhat.”
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Drew Barrymore as Billie Offer and Eric Bana as Huck Cheever in Lucky You.
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