Lucky Chances (1990)

Admirable film.

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

As usual, the movie is nothing like the book. I really enjoyed the book, because you became invested in the characters. However, I did the process backwards: I saw the movie before I saw the film and liked the film. I saw it at a fairly young age, but I still liked it. Vincent Irizarry was on my mother's soap, so we had to see anything he was in. Nicolette was not the right person for Lucky I think. And Sandra Bullock as Maria? The entire purpose of the character was not what Bullock represented, but it's how I first fell in love with her and remember her to this day. However, she wasn't right for the part either. The movie was fair enough, but you could tell that NBC wasn't ready to deal with Dario's homosexuality and real mob violence. It almost had the moral appeal of an after school special. The movie should of took itself more seriously. I liked the movie, but after reading the book, the actors were all wrong for the characters.

Lucky/Chances is a good movie based on a good book. I read the books first prior to watching the movie and it does follow the book closely with a few minor chnages. Vincent Irizarry could not have made a better Gino and Nicollette Sheridan was perfect to play Lucky. The acting may have been a tad bit over-the-top, but many of Jackie Collins' books are and that's probably why the movie was done that way. I'd personally love to see a silver screen version of this book so that more details of the story could be shown (there was a lot that couldn't be shown on t.v.).

I thought that this was a good movie and that Nicolette Sheridan did a great job in the role of "Lucky". However there are parts of this movie which are not the same as the book. Overall the casting of Vincent Irizarry and Michael Nader were perfect as "Gino" and "Enzio" and if you don't blink you will see Sandra Bullock in this film.

Funny how things turn out; while going through the site and checking up on "I Saw What You Did" with Shawnee Smith (whose on-screen appearances on "Becker," curiously enough, coincide with the times during that amusing but inessential sitcom when yours truly pays most attention to the screen. There, comments on two TV productions for the price of one), I found out that she was in this interpretation of two of Jackie Collins's novels... like one wouldn't have been enough. Joan's more attractive sister also wrote, executive produced and even got her name in the title of "Jackie Collins' Lucky/Chances," clearly eager to remind us just who exactly we have to blame for this. Consider yourself blamed, Jackie.Six hours of dire pap (Sandra Bullock was also in this, and must have counted herself as the real lucky one since her character died at the end of part one), and with a cast seemingly intent on seeing who can give the worst performance, it's ultimately only endurable as a laugh riot. In amongst this Olympiad of appalling acting, Nicollette Sheridan romps home with the gold as Lucky Santangelo (as one American critic wrote at the time, she's as adept at playing the daughter of a mobster as Roseanne is at singing) and only Michael Nader matches her in the thespian-as-plank stakes; we don't even get to appreciate Nikki's sublime bubble butt. At least "Hollywood Wives" had Laura Branigan doing the title song (though how Aaron Spelling persuaded her to waste her talent on his behest we can only speculate).Wait for "I Saw What You Did" instead. (That's three comments now.)