MOVIE REVIEW OF ”LUCKY DAY”

“Back to the Future” actor Crispin Glover who played George McFly steals the show in “Lucky Day” (*** OUT OF ****), Oscar-winning “Pulp Fiction” writer Roger Avary’s graphic comedy of errors about revenge.  Cast as dastardly villain Luc Chaltiel, Glover plays a looney French gunman with no qualms about killing anybody.

Our protagonist, an amiable safecracker on parole, Red (Luke Bracey of “Hacksaw Ridge”), describes Luc as “at the top of the mob’s psychopath totem pole.” Luc has flown from Paris to Los Angeles to personally kill Red. Since Luc’s brother died in the same heist that landed Red behind bars, Luc blames him for his brother’s demise.

Available Now On Blu-Ray and Digital

Meantime, Luc informs a U.S. Customs Agent that he has come to America for pleasure and business.  When prompted to be specific, Luc replies, “I take pleasure in my business.”  The Agent asks him about his ‘business,’ and Luc grins wickedly, “Retirement planning.”

Immaculately attired in a black suit, white shirt, tie, and gloves, this sadistic Gallic gunman does what he pleases and accommodates nobody.  For example, when he steals a gangbanger’s hydraulically equipped lowrider ’63 Chevy, he shoots the obstinate owner without blinking.

Once behind the wheel, he has to ponder the array of gears.  Later, Chaltiel cruises through L.A. with the Chevy lifted and tilted sideways on three wheels in search of Red.  Eventually, the LAPD stops him.  A uniformed officer insists Luc lower the absurd chassis. Fumbling to lower the vehicle, Luc winds up pinning the cop to the pavement beneath the car.

Naturally, the cop’s partner in a black & white behind them radios for back-up. Luc brandishes a heavy-duty assault rifle equipped with an M-60 grenade launcher.  When his initial hail of gunfire doesn’t silence the desperate officer, Chaltiel obliterates the car in a fiery explosion with the grenade launcher.

Afterward, the Frenchman gatecrashes an art exhibit where he expects to find Red with his wife and strafes everybody in sight whether innocent or otherwise. Literally, Chaltiel paints the walls of the art exhibit with arterial blood sprays in derivative Jackson Pollock patterns.  Who he least expects to encounter is Red’s trigger-happy, over-the-top, Latino parole officer, Ernesto Sanchez (Clifton Collins, Jr. of “Dirty”), who fancies himself an art collector.

Luc Chaltiel isn’t the only eccentric in Roger Avary’s violent, B-movie noir thriller.  The guy who swaps lead with the Frenchman in this R-rated, 99-minute epic is just as larger-than-life and bizarre.  Ernesto Sanchez isn’t your ordinary probation officer.  He spouts his own little speech about his undying dedication to his dangerous job.

Sanchez is an obnoxious, trash-talking, in-your-face lout, but he is through and through honest.  Meantime, our hero, Red is a nice-guy safecracker who has served two years for a bank robbery gone awry when the authorities surprised them.  Luc’s bloodthirsty brother caught enough flying lead in the ensuing showdown to leave him dead and splattered at the scene.

Stolen in the heist were bearer bonds that Red’s buddy, the sartorially elegant Leroy (Clé Bennett of “Jigsaw”), escaped with without a scratch. Leroy has kept them, $600-thousand 1933 U.S. Treasury notes stashed away in his safe awaiting Red’s release to split it with him. Leroy, a handsome, charming, African American with his own impeccable sense of style, plans to open a strip club with his cut of the loot featuring bubble butted strippers from every nation of the world.

Moreover, Leroy has always dreamed of achieving royalty. He surprises Red when he explains he has changed his name from Leroy to Le Roi, because Le Roi in French means the king.

Indeed, “Lucky Day” channels positive feelings about France throughout its action.  For example, Red’s adolescent daughter, Beatrice (newcomer Ella Ryan Quinn), prefers French rather than English for everyday conversation.  Elated to see her dad again, Beatrice is also peeved he spent two long years away from her.

Meanwhile, Red’s sexy wife Chloe (Nina Dobrev of “Flatliners”) manages an art gallery, and Beatrice and she have been making ends meet on virtually nothing.  No sooner does Red show up than Chloe’s lunatic boss, Derrek Blarney (David Hewlett of “Midway”) suddenly pressures her into having an office romance.

Even the peripheral characters, like the bartender, Jean-Jacques (Tomer Sisley of “The Nativity Story”), who sells illegal weapons to the heinous Luc, are memorable. In Lucky Day” Chaltiel ridicules him about selling only Glock pistols which he despises.  Jean-Jacques justifies their sale because the locals thrive on them.

“Lucky Day” features some gory action scenes.  The shootout in Jean-Jacques’s bar where Luc bought his arsenal of firearms is as ridiculous as it is ferocious.  The French gunman shoots an assailant in a three-way standoff who accidentally discharges a shotgun which unfortunately decapitates an innocent bystander.

The headless body staggers around and then collapses to the floor.  Just about every scene involving the abrasive Luc is atypical. Another scene features Luc, testing an assault weapon from Jean-Jacques’ rooftop where he has been scrutinizing the variety of firearms that the crazy bar owner has for sale.

Again, Luc proves himself an excellent marksman, obliterating a hotdog in a man’s hand from a vast distance.  Inevitably, Red must face the fact he has lost his touch at opening safes during his confinement.  He tries to open Leroy’s safe, but he cannot. Later, the evil Luc shoves Beatrice inside Leroy’s safe and challenges Red to get her out before she suffocates.

Luke Bracey is almost unrecognizable as Red with a buzz cut and beard.  When he isn’t dealing with Ernesto, he is dodging Luc, and struggling valiantly to protect his wife and daughter.

Of course, Luc leaves a trail of corpses everywhere he goes in search of Red.  Interestingly enough, “Lucky Day” serves as a sequel of sorts to Avary’s earlier crime film “Killing Zoe” (1993), co-starring Eric Stoltz and Julie Delpy, about another charismatic safecracker who tangled with a psychotic partner that wanted everything.  R-rated for bloody violence, profanity, and sexual content, “Lucky Day” boasts a happy ending without a dull moment.

For More Great Movie Reviews Click Here: https://theplanetweekly.com/category/entertainment/