There’s nothing particularly Asian or Chinese about the events in Calgary-based director Gillian McKercher’s Lucky Star. The self-inflicted money woes of the eponymous Lucky (Terry Chen) could very easily be transposed on a cast of Black, Indigenous, Latino, or White characters with relatively little tweaking. This reviewer takes this as a sign of progress; racially diverse stories need not confine themselves to racial topics. After all, cinema has come a long way in the short time since the presentation of contemporary Asian American life 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians was a real novelty.
Lucky probably wishes he was a crazy rich Asian instead of an increasingly indebted and desperate one. His old gambling addiction has surfaced again which has landed him in a deep financial hole in which all his efforts to extricate himself have only resulted in further excavation. It doesn’t help that he’s also fallen victim to a tax scam and his car has been impounded due to compounding traffic tickets.
With Lucky constantly borrowing (and sometimes stealing) money from his teenage daughter Grace (Conni Miu) and exasperated accountant Darren (Andrew Phung in a rare dramatic role), his web of deception threatens to collapse with wife Noel (Olivia Cheng) growing increasingly suspicious. Of course, she has her own secrets…
Unfolding in a blistering cold Calgary that is thankfully allowed to play itself, Lucky Star mines the depths of individual hubris in the face of crushing self-defeat. Chen once again proves every inch the under-utilised star he is as Lucky, a charismatic guy expending all his energy and talents in the wrong direction.
Being the protagonist, we can’t help but root alongside him that the next game will bring the windfall that will wash away his troubles. But life is rarely that simple and karma is bound and determined not to make things easy for Lucky or his family. Bursts of intense and finely-tailored dialogue are deftly balanced with passages of quiet desperation worthy of the golden age of silent cinema.
With the scope of an epic tragedy and the discipline of a finely-honed stage play, Lucky Star delivers a hearty dramatic meal with a side of dark humour . It’s the kind of regional Canadian filmmaking that bigger film centres like Toronto or Vancouver couldn’t pull off with the same kind of restraint and that our taxpayer-funded festivals could use more of. Check it out at VIFF, but avoid the casino on your way home.
8/10
Lucky Star screens as part of VIFF on Oct 3 and Oct 5 @ Int Village