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Lucky Break (2001 film)

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Lucky Break
UK quad poster
Directed byPeter Cattaneo
Written byRonan Bennett (screenplay)
Stephen Fry (lyrics)
Produced byPeter Cattaneo
Barnaby Thompson
Starring
CinematographyAlwin H. Küchler
Edited byDavid Gamble
Music byAnne Dudley
Production
companies
FilmFour Productions
Fragile Films
Senator Film
Distributed byFilmFour Distributors (United Kingdom)
Senator Filmverleih (Germany)
Paramount Pictures
Miramax Films (United States, Australia and New Zealand)
Release dates
24 August 2001 (United Kingdom)
8 November 2001 (Germany)
19 April 2002 (United States)
Running time
107 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Germany
United States
LanguageEnglish

Lucky Break is a 2001 crime comedy film starring James Nesbitt and directed by Peter Cattaneo.[1] The film is a co-production between the United Kingdom, United States and Germany.

Plot

James 'Jimmy' Hands and Rudy 'Rud' Guscott are two friends who used to play "Cops & Robbers" when they were young. Now adults, they plan to actually rob a bank, but the robbery goes wrong and Hands flees the bank leaving Guscott trapped behind the security shutters. Hands is caught and arrested not long later.

After being sentenced to do time in prison, Hands and Guscott make a daring escape plan as the prison is scheduled to put on a theatrical show of Nelson: The Musical. Hands and Guscott plan to use the show as cover their daring break-out attempt. During rehearsals, the inmates are unable to find a pianist for the show, until one inmate, Cliff Gumbell (Timothy Spall) volunteers and impresses them with his amazing piano skills. Hands is cast as Nelson (against his will) and Guscott is cast as Hardy, much to Guscott's dismay as his character kisses Nelson as he dies.

The escape plan proves difficult to proceed with, as one of the guards becomes very suspicious of Hands. Further complications arise when one of the more dangerous inmates threatens Hands to help him escape, as well as Hands warming to a prison employee named Annabel. During a prison visiting day, Gumbell is devastated to learn that his son is spending more time with his uncle, and that his wife is very disappointed being married to a criminal. Unable to live with the shame, Gumbell commits suicide in his cell.

The night of the show arrives and the escape plan is put into action. However, the dangerous inmate is tricked into going over the 30-foot prison wall and falls down the other side, where he is captured. Hands and Guscott are about to escape when Hands reveals his intentions to stay because of his feelings for Annabel. Guscott reluctantly lets Hands go and escapes with two other inmates, one of whom has a friend who arrives in a plane to help them escape.

Back in the prison, one of the guards resigns from his job over frustration of the inmates escaping and becomes a car park warden. Hands is later released from prison and starts a new life with Annabel.

Cast list

Production

Anne Dudley collaborated with Stephen Fry to write and produce songs for the send-up musical "Nelson".

Exterior prison scenes were filmed at Dartmoor Prison, Princetown.[2]

Reception

The film holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 44 reviews with the critics consensus: "Lucky Break fails to do anything new with The Full Monty formula".[3] On Metacritic, it holds a 48% rating based on 22 reviews, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".[4]

Dave Kehr of The New York Times said that "Mr. Cattaneo restricts himself to the smiling blandness that has become the stock in trade of British comedies made for export, turning in a film that is forced, familiar and thoroughly condescending".[5]

Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post wrote "Apart from the deja vu all over again, Lucky Break is no worse a film than Breaking Out, and [that film] was utterly charming".[6]

According to Derek Elley of Variety, the film is "[c]hained to the floor by a script that isn't particularly funny, direction that goes for realism rather than stylization and an almost complete lack of comic timing".[7]

References

  1. ^ Smith, Neil (23 August 2001). "BBC - Films - review - Lucky Break". BBC. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Prison to host film premiere. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Lucky Break". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Lucky Break". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  5. ^ Kehr, Dave (5 April 2002). "Film Review; Lucky Break". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. ^ O'Sullivan, Michael (18 April 2002). "Lucky Break". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ Elley, Derek (14 August 2001). "Lucky Break". Variety.
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