MovieChat Forums > Luck (2012) Discussion > Amazing, especially the final episode. S...

Amazing, especially the final episode. Such a shame.

posted 8 years ago by asktheages
8 replies | jump to latest

The Pilot episode is excellent, mostly thanks to Mann's touch; Episode 2 and 3 are not bad but a little ponderous, more about development than action. But then the show picks up speed at Episode 4, gets even better with the wonderful Episode 5 and 6, and is increasingly masterful and compelling up until the end -- when it concludes on the highest note possible. Mimi Leder's Episode 9 is such a beautiful hour of television. Oddly, her direction seems just as much like Mann as the Pilot was; it's gorgeously done. With the best race sequences in the series, the "Remember that time in Chicago?" restaurant scene, the illuminating relationship between Ace and his grandson, the happy end to the degenerates' story, and the truly moving final scene, it's a near-flawless piece of work.

And above all, it makes one sad that this show was not allowed to continue, whatever the reasons for that were. The combination of Mann and Milch, two of the very finest artists of our generation, was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, volatile yet capable of such greatness; considering how difficult it was, I doubt they'll ever work together again. It was a unique show in so many respects, from the intimate and one-of-a-kind rendering of the track and its horses, to the incredibly consistent aesthetic which screamed Michael Mann, to the story of Ace and Mike -- ostensibly a gangster story, but with so little of what is typical of that genre and so much unexpected poetry and pathos and humanity. There's an almost mythical quality to the way that Ace and Gus and Mike and his minions move about the narrative; in fact, the whole show has this grand, larger-than-life yet still small-scale feel to it. Add in its minimalist, ephemeral, kaleidoscopic visual schematics and you have one beautiful series.

It's hardly perfect, but the virtues more than compensate for the flaws. One of the best shows ever, even though we only got 9 episodes of it. I just hope we get another show from Milch, hopefully one that isn't cancelled...

[–] mpboylanjr-54038 8 years ago

It could have been one of the best from HBO. To bad they were stupid in letting 3 horses die during the first season. I know PETA sucks , and people have many mixed feelings on the group. I really don't know much about them than the fact that they are on set watching for animal abuse and rights, but the people that were in charge of making sure the horses were safe did not do a good job obviously. It's a big shame. Show was great for the first season and had started filming the 2nd season , but were axed because what they let happen.

THERES NO ROOM IN MY CIRCUS TENT FOR YOU !!!!

[–] hypercube 8 years ago

Sometimes horses can get hurt and it wasn't the fault of anyone.

[–] Lapis_Lazuli_Blue 8 years ago

I just watched this series on Amazon last month. I'm not even remotely familiar with the worlds of gambling and horse racing, and it took me a couple of episodes to get into it, but I was hooked afterwards.

Even though the last episode did provide a satisfying end to some of the storylines, it's so frustrating to know that there will never be another season. It's also terrible that those horses died. It's sad all around, really.

[–] hypercube 8 years ago

Agree, and of all shows it really sucks that it happened to this one. With most shows, they just try to write a great first season and go from there, but with LUCK, as great as the first season was, it was laying the groundwork for many seasons. The story was just getting started..

[–] chucknorrissinspiration 8 years ago

It'll go down as one of my all time favorites. The day it was canceled was the day I hated PITA for life.

[–] chucknorrissinspiration 8 years ago

Correction: PETA

[–] starsprent 7 years ago

There's nothing quite like this show, especially the racing sequences, where all these different lives, personalities, motives, classes, cultures, intersect for this brief, ectatic stretch, this gestalt of fate and feeling. I swear during these racing sequences, to call it immersive would be selling it short. It's cathartic, it's emotional.

Normally in life these moments are too fleeting, too brief, to hold in your hand, to feel its shape, feel its flow. Here though the racing sequences prolong that feeling, suspend the moment, the high, for a much longer duration. Seeing the faces in the crowds, their barking, growling, the dirt spattering on the track, the muscles of the horses flexing, straining, pounding the ground.

There's a tide of feeling that builds, with every gallop. In the finale, in the first race with Rosie, when she surged clear of the field at the end, inexorably clear and out of reach, I felt momentarily overcome, utterly swept away by the power of it, the excellence of the animal. I've heard of drug-induced highs that generate a similar euphoria but not TV.

This is a great achievement of the series. Not just depicting gamblers and glory seekers but actually replicating the experience, the beauty and the shimmer, the inherent transience that makes it all the more brilliant, as much as possible for the viewer: all the ceremony and hush before the explosion out of the gates. Although it is disappointing that there isn't more, I felt satisfied by the show in and of itself, very satisfied.

[–] asktheages 7 years ago

Very well put, starsprent -- always enjoy reading your posts.

In the finale, in the first race with Rosie, when she surged clear of the field at the end, inexorably clear and out of reach, I felt momentarily overcome, utterly swept away by the power of it, the excellence of the animal. I've heard of drug-induced highs that generate a similar euphoria but not TV.

Yes, exactly, I think I know precisely what you're talking about -- that shot is sublime and always sticks out in my mind. It's beautiful filmmaking. It is almost like a bit of punctuation -- a period, not an exclamation point -- a surprisingly quiet cap on a huge, hugely exciting and riveting race. The way that Rosie and the horse are the only ones in the frame for a good 3-5 seconds (feels like an eternity, in a good way) is great -- and that tiny little musical flourish, a brief wash of wah-wah guitar, the aural equivalent of a small wave lapping gently, just seals the deal. It's like a rare bit of near-silence, a breathless moment of pure speed and joy and clarity seen in slow-motion with brilliant vision, just before reality and time comes rushing back and cheers and roars overwhelm the track.