A review of Lucky

****1/2 out of five stars

Currently in limited release

by Walter G. Tarrow

A raw, honest and bittersweet portrait of the loner as a very old man.  Harry Dean Stanton, at the top of his game and true to himself, is Lucky, now beginning to face the fact of his mortality.

Character actor John Carroll Lynch (The Founder, Fargo), in his directorial debut, paints a canvas of the desert Southwest with a last piece slice of life tale that takes its time in a simple town with simple folk. Lucky faces the inevitability of his end with questions, those heaviest questions we all will ask at the end when we glimpse the existential void..

We begin by waking up with him, his sagging frail boxer shorted body starkly, unforgivingly on display, and follow his simple, orderly and meticulous morning routine of light exercise, drinking his glass of milk, his cup of coffee, smoking his cigarette, brushing his teeth, combing his long hair, getting dressed, complete with cowboy hat, and walking into town. Despite the harsh agedness of it all, Lucky moves with a strength from determination.

He quests as he moseys everywhere from buying his milk and cigarettes at the local store to working his crossword puzzle at the diner to drinking his Bloody Mary at the bar and back home again to watch his game shows and keep working on that crossword, with occasional help from someone at the other end of his red phone. We, and Lucky himself, learn who he is through moments, expected and unexpected, that rely on how he acts and reacts. Lucky comes to answers through his time with friends, fellows and one stranger in particular.

In the bar, David Lynch as Howard might be Lucky’s best friend. Howard has lost President Roosevelt, his pet tortoise, and is distressed about losing his close friend.

James Darren, teenage heartthrob of the 50s, as Paulie, sits at the bar declaring life was “ugatz!” until Elaine (Beth Grant), the owner of the bar, made something of his life.

Ed Begley Jr. is his doctor who is astonished that heavy smoking hasn’t yet killed Lucky and informs him that he’s very very old.

Bibi, who runs the bodega, invites Lucky to her son’s 10th birthday party and, in a heartwarming scene, we are given a peek into an unexpected side of this lone coyote.  

Tom Skerritt, a WWII marine veteran and stranger to Lucky, meets Lucky in the diner and tells a story that ultimately helps Lucky come to terms.

As Lucky says, there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. He may not ever have had a wife and children (as far as he knows), but he knows the townsfolk and they know and care for him.

Deadpan and quietly humorous, Lucky puts us in the dry heat of a sagebrush reality with warm uncomplicated and straightforward truths that lead us to peaceful conclusions. Meditations on what happens when we die are most profound when we live simple lives free of distractions. As such, Lucky the loner becomes the deep thinker for all of us. And, like Lucky, this is a film that moseys along to a satisfying and thoughtful end.

With solid visuals, some red metaphorical moments, well selected songs (especially Lucky’s theme – Red River Valley played on harmonica) and real people dialogue, director Lynch has crafted a fond farewell to Harry Dean.

It makes you smile.