Lucky Numbers (2000)

 
LUCKY NUMBERS, writer/director Nora Ephron's staggeringly unfunny cap-
er comedy, stars John "Look Ma, No More Dreadlocks!" Travolta and Lisa  
Kudrow as employees of a Harrisburg, PA television station scheming to 
swindle the state lottery.  He's the celebrity weatherman and ailing 
business owner who owes many thousands of dollars; she's a Vanna White 
style "lotto girl," bedmate to the weather guy, and exasperated mis-
tress of Ed "Al Bundy" O'Neill's station manager.  (Be careful with 
that last detail, lest the mental image haunt you all the way through 
Halloween.)  With an assist from Tim Roth's gay Brit gangster, Dim and 
Dimmer concoct the following plot:  rig "air popper" with all-but-five 
weighted balls; perform "switcharoo" twice (once before, once after); 
send "beard" to claim winning ticket.  And, less than fifteen minutes 
of screen time later, they've pulled it off.  Just like that.  Presum-
bably, something then goes wrong.  Or probably *several* things.  By 
then, though, this critic had left, having scratched his head (among 
other places) for forty-five long, laugh-less minutes.  What's wrong 
with this picture?  Everything.  I mean, what the Hell's worth saying 
about a film where even the appearance of living blob Michael Moore--   
as a wheezing, rumpled, aspiring adult-bookstore owner-- is a dud?  O-
kay, there is *one* diversion.  It occurs at the beginning and that's 
however many minutes it takes to realize that the increasingly pudgy, 
ever big-headed Travolta is beginning to resemble... Jerry Lewis. 
Hello La-dy!  (Rated "R"/104 min.)

Grade: W/O

Copyright 2000 by Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies as MOVIE HELL: Unlucky Numbers