Hard Luck (2006 film)
- For the silent film, see Hard Luck (1921 film).
| Hard Luck | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Mario Van Peebles |
| Written by | Larry Brand Mario Van Peebles |
| Produced by | Brad Wyman Mario Van Peebles |
| Starring | Wesley Snipes Cybill Shepherd Mario Van Peebles |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
Release date | October 17, 2006 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Language | English |
Hard Luck is a 2006 American crime drama thriller film written, produced and directed by Mario Van Peebles, and starring Peebles and Wesley Snipes.
Wesley Snipes played Lucky, a down on his luck former criminal and drug dealer whose post prison trials and tribulations take him on a wild adventure.
Hard Luck features a collaboration between Mario Van Peebles and Wesley Snipes, and they both reunited for the first time since 1991 film New Jack City.
Plot
The confusion begins when Lucky (Wesley Snipes) is released from prison and tries to lead a respectable life despite his troubled past. Lucky once or twice reflects on the wisdom of his grandfather who supposedly told him "sometimes without bad luck, it would seem you don't have any luck at all." This theme is supposed to be manifested throughout the film. Shortly after his release from prison, Lucky tries to get back on his feet but inexplicably ends up a victim of Hurricane Katrina's wrath, and loses his newly found life. After moving back to New York, Lucky is dealt another blow when the government withdraws funds for his yoga and samba dance classes which he uses to try to keep kids off of the streets. This unfortunate event leads to Lucky enduring the bad influences of two old friends from his past life as a criminal, who lure Lucky to a strip club under the false pretense of a friend's birthday. When a drug deal with some dangerous mobsters goes bad, Lucky is now on the run with a feisty Puerto Rican stripper from the strip club, Angie (Jackie Quinones), and over $500,000 in American currency, which is wired with marking dye.
Throughout the film, there are short cuts of an unconventional and troubled couple, unexplained and known to the police as the "Sawtooth Killers." James Hiroyuki Liao plays Chang, an egotistical and maniacal accomplice to Cass, played by Cybill Shepherd, a mother of a mentally challenged man named Eugene (Mike Messier). Motivated by Cass's son's unpleasant experiences with society's rejection of mentally challenged individuals, the couple brutally kidnaps, tortures, and presumably kills their abductees, recording their exploits on video, possibly for future viewing.
These two stories merge at the end as Angie and Lucky find themselves caught up in the path of violence, and Lucky ends up an unlikely hero by saving the life of a would-be victim of the Sawtooth Killers. The film culminates with Lucky saving the police officer played by Van Peebles, from Cass's son Eugene who is armed with a shovel. Lucky, choosing to have a positive outlook on the events by using perspective gained from his grandfather, characterizes the events as being "the luckiest day in an unlucky man's life." Lucky and Angie go on to receive a $200,000 reward which had been offered by the police for information leading the capture, arrest, and/or prosecution of the Sawtooth Killers.
Cast
- Wesley Snipes as Lucky
- Jacquelyn Quinones as Angela
- Mario Van Peebles as Captain Davis
- Cybill Shepard as Kass
- Luis Guzmán as Million Dollar
- Aubrey Dollar as Rain
- Noel Fleiss as Sol Rosenbaum
- Bill Cobbs as Cobb
- Kevin Chapman as Franklin
- Melvin Van Peebles as Hospital Prophet
Reception
Hard Luck received mostly negative reviews with a score of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Home media
On February 26, 2007, DVD was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment at the UK in Region 2.