Lucky, a 2017 movie, is about a 90 year old hale and hearty retired Navy officer, who spends the rest of his days busying himself in the vicissitudes of daily life. The movie surely has a very slow pace, and is definitely not for those who don't have a much developed taste in the repertoire of film industry. Just the desert, the blue sky, a bunch of Cactus plants, the old man and couple of his pals have been portrayed in the film. At times, nostalgia sweeps over the old man, and he goes back to the times, places and people he knew and loved.Primarily, the genre of the movie is drama. But, the old man happens to show disgust at times regarding the concepts he doesn't agree with, which drags in a little touch of comedy (Dramedy). Besides, a little philosophical innuendo is also there: the way Lucky discusses the concepts of "realism" and "truth" and mentioned to be growing "afraid" makes a person question the very thoughts of an old man. While many claim Lucky to be a "lonely" person, Lucky defends himself by making the difference between being "alone" and being "lonely" crystal clear. In addition, the concepts of life and impending death, not getting to judge others for their actions, and bearing the burdens of life on our backs, smilingly, have, too, been put forward by a mere example of a 100 year old tortoise, who expects to live a 100 more. In short, it's a slow paced drama film, that happens to inculcate in it the meanings of our life, and questions the very existence of a human soul.

I wasn't familiarized with Harry Dean Stanton's work when I went to see 'Lucky'. The only thing I knew about him was that his name sounded familiar to me, and that he died a few days before the premiere of the movie. And I must say that now that I watched it at last after seeing all the hype about it, it's quite a remarkable and brilliant work of art in every sense.It has some feeling of joy, fun, happiness and most importantly, of life. Director John Carrol Lynch shows us a portrait of a 90-year-old man and his spiritual journey through what's left for him to live. And Carrol Lynch does it in a way that is real, human, delightful and hilarious. I told my mother that the character of Lucky was probably a portrait of myself when I had that age (she laughed a lot).10/10 This is an anthem to life that has to be seen by everyone. I'm willing to check out Stanton's previous works, because he was great here. Worthy of all the hype. You got to see it.Thanks!

This quietly meandering movie deals with the not often accentuated aspects of life such as decay and death in a gentle way. Moreover it exemplifies that life is valuable in all its stages and must and can be lived to the end in a beautiful, meaningful and proud manner. The tortoise (or turtle...) stands metaphorically for the desire for eternal life but it is concluded that it has to be left go off. The message of the movie is to face the end with courage and a smile like the Buddhist girl surrendering to the American soldiers on one of the many beaches of death during world war II. In the synopsis here the movie is said to be about an atheist, but I did not see such a denouncement made very explicit. Some of the symbolism could be interpreted as hinting at humanism, the big book on a stand in the man's house that suspiciously looks like a bible is in fact a dictionary. Everyday he passes by a green garden, appropriately accessible via a tunnel, but he does not seem enamored by its lure and just swears at it, you could infer his longevity a mere consequence of his refusal to enter. That the director has a penchant for hidden meanings and symbolism, some of which I probably missed or otherwise cannot explain extensively in a review could well have been an influence by his father David Lynch, well known for entering the realm of the surreal, who was in fact added to the cast as the man who lost said tortoise. Added gravity when watching this movie is the knowledge the lead actor had died before the movie was hardly fresh out of the cutting room so in this respect the movie itself is becoming a case in point of its own message. A final observation is that emotionally lasting movies do not require an extravagant budget.

If this is the first half of your visit on earth the chances are this film is not for you. Even viewers who have been here longer may find the film excruciatingly slow, painfully confronting, or both. Staring into the face of death can be like that. But if you have ever pondered the reason or sequel for your visit, the poignantly introspective essay on aging and death, ironically called Lucky (2017), may be one of the most honest films you have ever seen.It may be a metaphor for life itself, but the plot is as insubstantial as it is profound. Framed by the wide and dusty Arizona desert, Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) is a humourless and crabby 90-year old loner whose daily routines are repetitive and banal. We meet him at an aesthetic low point in his sagging underwear, meticulously conducting his morning yoga stretches in between puffing his packet-a-day lifetime habit. Just as he sets out on his daily pattern of visiting a shop or bar or wandering the streets of his small-time nowhere town, he notices a kitchen clock ominously flashing 12:00 and falls to the floor. His doctor confirms that the unhurt but dazed Lucky has nothing wrong with him other than being old.The fall is Lucky's epiphany for confronting his mortality and, as an atheist, there is no comfort to be found in a higher power. Not much more happens in this film. A friend deep in grief over his missing 100-year old tortoise named President Roosevelt becomes a dark comedic touchstone for the same inconsequential and inevitable fate that awaits Lucky and the audience. The doctor and the tortoise are hinge points that shape the sparse narrative; another occurs at a young boy's birthday party where the usually morose Lucky unexpectedly sings a mournfully beautiful Spanish song. It is the only scene where Lucky appears to embrace the rawness of being alive. If there is a tension curve it snaps taut when he speaks the words "I'm scared" at what lies ahead; mercifully, the curve softens with a glimmer of optimism in the film's final scene.This minimalist narrative compacted tightly into 88 minutes feels so much bigger because it is. The film's centre of gravity is Lucky's face, where the camera spends a lot of time looking into the sunken sadness and deeply etched markings of decades gone by. It's a face that rarely emotes except for annoyance, confusion, or fear, which heightens the contrast with his almost spiritual gaze while singing the Spanish lament that means 'Going Back'. It seems odd to credit Stanton with performance authenticity given that, in reality, he is an old man playing an old man.For many fans of Stanton and his long illustrious career, the film climaxes in two very different worlds. The fact that he passed away late last year before he saw the film's release transforms his final work into something akin to an existential masterpiece.