Lucky Review

I’ll admit that I had a hard time really getting into Lucky, the new thriller from AppleTV+ that is based on the novel of the same name. There’s a lot of action – car chases, foot races, hiding behind large vehicles whilst someone stalks around with a gun. And there’s a decent enough story being told: A young woman (Anya Taylor-Joy), who grew up participating in cons with her con-man father (Timothy Olyphant, who is having quite the summer), gets in over her head when she and her husband (Drew Starkey) steal $10 million from someone who very much wants that money back. Of course, there are a host of twists and turns as Lucky – the nickname our heroine (or is she?) goes by – tries to understand just what she’s dealing with as she gets double-crossed, chased by a mobster (who happens to be played by Annette Benning), and attempts to avoid a dogged FBI agent (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) who has more than one reason to want to catch her.

If you saw that cast, you likely have guessed that this is a very well-acted show. And it is. Taylor-Joy has the ability to draw you in and make you love her character only to turn on a dime and sew distrust. She’s truly one of our best actors working today in terms of crafting a character and letting us into their mind. But the character of Lucky just never worked for me. I could see the work Taylor-Joy had put into her, but the writing just kept letting both actor and character down. Because we never learn enough about Lucky to care about her. That isn’t to say that we don’t want to see her “win” – outside of Ellis-Taylor’s FBI agent, there’s absolutely no one else to root for here. But the character is more of a cypher than anything, right up until the final scene of the series, where we get some key information about her that helps brings some of her emotional deficiencies into focus.

Lucky spends much of the series getting tossed around and injured in car wrecks, chases, fights, and falls. She’s great at putting on a persona to get what she needs and has an uncanny ability at slight of hand theft. But we don’t really learn much about her as a character – we see her play several, but the character itself is more or less wholly devoid of emotion. Now, that could be a choice – she is in one high stress situation after another – but even when she’s not, she just feels a bit like a void. It was hard to care about her beyond the basic structure of the story telling me to. And the same thing was the case for every other character, save Timothy Olyphant’s John – and that’s largely because Olyphant has charisma for days (as does John), so every time he was on screen he popped compared to the rest of the cast who just, well, didn’t have any.

And it’s not the fault of the actors, per se. Benning’s Priscilla is buttoned up and cold precisely because she’s a woman navigating a world that has very few women in positions of power. And Benning makes sure you understand that she lacks any sort of moral compass with how flippant Priscilla is in the face of some truly horrific situations. But again, not much there in terms of character outside of those traits. Starkey’s Cary is vapid and pretty dumb, and there’s almost no explanation as to why someone like Lucky – who is clearly quick, smart, and focused – wanted to marry him. Maybe because he’s pretty? But he certainly lacks a personality or any intelligence. And Agent Rand is a pretty typical law enforcement character – trying to fix a mistake from her past while also trying to catch her white whale. Ellis-Taylor is a great actor, but not even she can do much with a character so embedded with tropes.

The good news is that Lucky clocks in at a brisk seven episodes, so the plot moves quickly and there’s not a lot of fat on the narrative, even if the characters lack much zest to help propel it along. So, if you’re in the market for a thriller, Lucky isn’t a bad choice to pick up. But if you’re hoping for a show with complex and interesting character, well, this one isn’t for you. It’s pure popcorn.

Lucky premieres on July 15 on AppleTV+. All seven episodes were provided for review.