Lucky (2017)

Directed by: John Carroll Lynch | 88 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Ron Livingston, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Skerritt, Beth Grant, James Darren, Barry Shabaka Henley, Yvonne Huff, Hugo Armstrong, Bertila Damas, Ana Mercedes, Sarah Cook, Amy Claire, Ulysses Olmedo Mikey Kampmann, Otti Feder, Mouse, Pam Sparks

90-year-old Lucky lives in a tiny town in Arizona. The town is in the middle of the prairie, it is sweltering hot and looks like cowboys and horses passed through it a short time ago. The town has a diner, a few bars and there are shops. Nobody knows Lucky’s real name, but everyone knows how he got his name: during the war he was a cook on a ship, the safest job in the navy. Lucky is not a fighter, although he can’t help but occasionally provocatively smoke a cigarette in places where it is not allowed.

In the feature film ‘Lucky’ we follow a few days in the life of this gritty elderly person. Those days have the same rhythm of getting up, watching game shows, doing a crossword puzzle in the diner, shopping in the shop and going to the pub in the evening. There he meets his friends and spreads his life wisdom, existentialist with a Buddhist sauce.

Sound boring? Forget it. ‘Lucky’ is a kind of ‘Paterson’ in the prairie. Just like in that gem by Jim Jarmusch, ‘Lucky’ has a laid-back rhythm that is close to the natural rhythm of human life. And just like ‘Paterson’, ‘Lucky’ is mainly about encounters and conversations. Simple but meaningful conversations with his doctor and with a former Marine he meets in the diner. Moreover, ‘Lucky’ is about the beauty and poetry of the everyday.

Is this concept worth it, the separate ingredients only make it even more beautiful. The images of the town and its surroundings, the great music (not only beautiful but also appropriate, such as when Lucky is in a dip and we hear Johnny Cash singing ‘I Can See a Darkness’) and the dry humor. And as a bonus, we finally get to know the difference between a turtle and a tortoise.

‘Lucky’ is above all the showcase and the heartwarming farewell to the great Harry Dean Stanton. The actor, who died in 2017, clearly feels like a fish in water and makes Lucky a simultaneously simple and complex character. A character who says goodbye with a beautiful smile. The smile of a happy man.