Spellbound director Jeffrey Blitz helms this insightful look at how the lottery changes people's lives in unexpected ways. For some of the instant millionaires featured here, winning means realizing the dream of freedom; for others, suddenly becoming super-rich carries more nuanced social consequences; and for one of the subjects, a carnival-ride operator named Buddy, collecting a $16 million jackpot almost got him killed—by his own greedy family members. One expects to find a poor-immigrant-makes-good tale here—and that expectation is fulfilled by Quang, a Vietnamese-American in Nebraska who shared the largest-ever Powerball prize ($365 million) with seven other ConAgra employees in 2006. But two of Blitz's subjects—namely, Robert, a Ph.D. mathematician, and James, a cat-hoarding, learning-disabled derelict—are the eccentrics documentary filmmakers dream about. Robert is the most philosophical about wealth acquisition; after finding himself with $22 million, his “desire for things went away”—as did his wife. Unemployed James spent his last three bucks on the ticket that brought him a fortune, only to use the cash to feed his animals and pay for the cheap motels he lives in. Interspersed throughout the featured stories are animated vignettes conveying historical factoids, as well as interviews with ever-hopeful non-winners. Offering an entertaining mix of trivia and philosophical truths, Lucky serves up interesting food for thought, both on the larger subject of human nature and the more focused topic of the often overestimated power of wealth. DVD extras include deleted scenes and a filmmaker bio. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)
Lucky
(2010) 82 min. DVD: $29.95. Docurama (avail. from most distributors). ISBN: 1-4229-1662-6. Volume 26, Issue 4
Lucky
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