Lynch and Stanton notably worked together on ‘Twin Peaks,’ as well as the lesser known ‘Hotel Room.’
The Big Picture
- After directing Harry Dean Stanton on
Twin Peaks
and
Hotel Room,
David Lynch and Stanton reunited for 2017’s
Lucky. - With Stanton playing the titular role, the movie follows a 90-year-old man coming to terms with his impending death
- The critically acclaimed Western comedy-drama, directed by John Carroll Lynch, was Stanton’s penultimate film role.
Lucky (2017) is an American Western film directed by John Carroll Lynch, starring Harry Dean Stanton in one of his final roles before his death. The film marks the epic on-screen reunion of David Lynch and Stanton. Stanton portrays the character of Lucky, a 90-year-old man coming to terms with his mortality while searching for enlightenment, a theme that is considerably fair for a Lynch and Stanton reunion. Lynch plays Howard, a depressed bar regular who is lamenting the disappearance of his prized tortoise seen crawling away at the beginning of the film. Both men are coming to terms with entropy and the finality of things, and while both characters are on their separate arcs, they mirror each other. Lucky is not just a film, but a poignant chapter near the end of a career that spanned over six decades, leaving a lasting legacy in cinema.
Lucky (2017)
Lucky follows the spiritual journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off the map desert town.
- Release Date
- March 11, 2017
- Director
- John Carroll Lynch
- Cast
- Harry Dean Stanton , David Lynch , Ron Livingston , Ed Begley Jr. , Tom Skerritt , Beth Grant
- Runtime
- 88 mins
- Main Genre
- Western
- Writers
- Logan Sparks , Drago Sumonja
- Studio
- Magnolia Pictures
Harry Dean Stanton Is a Lonely Man in ‘Lucky’
Lucky is a 90-year-old Navy veteran living an austere and lonely life in the small desert town of Piru, California. He smokes cigarettes, his fridge is populated with exactly two cartons of milk, and he does yoga every day in his simple house in the middle of nowhere. His days have repeated this way endlessly for years, affording him a stoic-like solitude that has gone on uninterrupted for some time now… that is until he falls one day, highlighting the vulnerabilities of his advanced age and isolation.
Lucky has never married and has no family to speak of. His best friend, whom the audience never sees or hears, speaks to Lucky on the phone, perhaps once a day, mewling about with his crossword puzzles. He waxes poetic in bars with a group of locals, his gaunt frame ghostly compared to the locals who shine in hues far more vibrant than him. He sits alone at the diner, picking over his crossword, pulls an American spirit from a ratty cigarette pack and struggles to light it, only to be stopped by Joe (Barry Shabaka Henley), the owner, who gently chides him, reminding him smoking was banned in restaurants a long time ago. Lucky is a man who has aged out of relevancy, floundering in a sea of modernity. He eyeballs the kindly bisexual throuple dismissively waving at them, too old to accept such a relationship with a resigned passivity befitting of an exhausted man.
What Is ‘Lucky’ About?
Lucky is a film that delves deep into the themes of loneliness and isolation and, more importantly, how to cope with it. Lucky is afraid to live, and it is through the irony of his impending death that he learns to embrace life. His fall is the inciting incident which forces the character to seek friendship as an antidote to despair. Lucky frequents a bar called Elaine’s (Beth Grant), where he sips Bloody Maria’s at the far end of the bar, away from the colorful locals who are all very much like Lucky. There is an awkwardness to Lucky as he tries to socialize, requiring gentle prompting from the barflies. Elaine, for example, is striking in red as she recounts her harrowing story about shooting up her bar. The contrast between the two is palpable but difficult to discern, especially when looking at the nature of their conversations. Elaine’s story is full of a zest for life, whereas Lucky muses about the philosophical underpinning regarding realism. Lucky is a man who has trouble getting outside himself, trapped in a lonely void of his own making.
There, the audience is introduced to Howard, played by Lynch, a character whose tortoise, President Roosevelt, is missing. President Roosevelt is Howard’s best and only friend, and the recipient of all his life savings in the event of his death. Howard’s loneliness seems less pronounced next to Lucky’s, who is similarly alone but perhaps not so lonely, until the untimely escape of his tortoise. Lucky, it would seem, is on a profound journey to battle the despair of age-related loneliness, by learning to accept the friendship of others whose love and affection are the antidote to entropy. Yet, entropy wins in the end. In a final speech to the bar patrons, Lucky concludes that everything a person is and has will eventually turn to nothing and at this, a person must smile. To be alone, he muses, is beautiful as it is a return to a state of oneness. Alone is a composite word, consisting of All and One and, in this way, a person can be alone but never lonely.
‘Lucky’ Was Harry Dean Stanton’s Penultimate Movie
Harry Dean Stanton had a long and illustrious career, playing supporting roles in almost every film he has ever been in. Lucky finally sees him, rightfully so, as the star on an esoteric journey of the soul which is something of Stanton’s wheelhouse. David Lynch and Stanton had a beautiful creative relationship, with Stanton often playing mysterious and gnarly old characters in films that are usually even more surreal and esoteric than Lucky. He plays a creepy old trailer park supervisor in Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return, a show known for its high-concept philosophical underpinnings. He played the role of a murderous John in the obscure HBO series Hotel Room. These roles revolve around philosophical and spiritual themes that radiate outward from Stanton’s grizzled visage.
The David Lynch Film That Even the Stars Don’t Know What It’s About
The last full-length film by Lynch took his style beyond the limit.
Lucky serves as a beautiful comment on a long and storied career. Stanton was not only a darling of independent film, but he also could transition rather seamlessly into the world of mainstream cinema, such was his skill as an actor. He was not only a favorite actor for Lynch but also directors such as Sam Peckinpah and Francis Ford Coppola. Lucky is a film that combines both of these attributes. Stanton is perfect in the role, intimately entwined with its philosophical themes. Still, unlike his Lynchian affairs, the film is far more accessible to wider audiences with its tasteful use of surrealism and focus on friendship. Stanton would die at 91, lending an air of authenticity to the role, a beautiful cinematic elegy for the actor whose career as a character actor, western bad-ass, and esoteric psychonaut all came into play in his penultimate film. In 2018, a year after his death, Frank & Ava was released, drawing the curtains on a career well-built and a life well-lived.
Lucky is currently available to stream on Max in the U.S.
This article was originally published on collider.com