Apple TV seems to be the place to be if you’re a major Hollywood star looking to dip into the world of television. They seem to have the biggest success rate when it comes to quality for their shows, focusing on making great shows over churning out as many as possible each year. Their latest, Lucky, sees Anya Taylor-Joy caught in the midst of a heist gone wrong, with both the mob and the law on her tail.
Based on the novel of the same name by Marissa Stapley and picked up by Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Lucky may not be the most original story, but it offers a frantic tale of betrayal and corruption that is well worth watching. It feels hard to make a crime thriller these days and make it stand out from a crowded market, yet this show possesses a few tricks up its sleeve to keep the audience invested throughout its seven episode run.
Things start so well for Lucky (Taylor-Joy) and her husband, Cary (Drew Starkey), as they celebrate a large windfall of money in their possession in a Vegas hotel. Things start to go downhill soon, though, as Lucky wakes to both the money and her husband gone, along with the issue of law enforcement closing in on the hotel. The opening episode is a frantic game of cat and mouse through the entire hotel, and even makes you question how Lucky is going to get through seven episodes of this with so many near misses. The clue is in the name, though, and it’s not the first or last time she gets out of a tricky situation, either.
Flashbacks fill in the gaps in Lucky’s past and provide insight into how she manages to find herself on the run from both the law and gangsters. It’s not a chosen life, though, as her father, played by the age-defying Timothy Olyphant, used her many times in his life of crime, often as a distraction. The dangerous setting is no place for a child, and it helps you empathise with Lucky, hard to escape the only life she’s ever known. Even with her father behind bars, his past actions endanger the one thing in his life he should be doing everything he can to protect.
Lucky thrives as a show when the titular character finds herself in the tightest of situations, Jonathan Tropper creating and serving as a showrunner along with Cassie Pappas on a show that moves along at such a pace, full of tense moments and some high-octane action sequences that wouldn’t feel out of place on the big screen. It’s great too when having its quieter moments, particularly between Annette Bening’s Priscilla and William Fichtner’s Whittaker – who share a history key to Lucky’s current predicament. As mentioned previously, it’s hard to bring something new to the table in the genre yet, when the screenplay and performances are as engaging as this, that doesn’t really matter.
It’s the performances that make Lucky another winner for Apple TV, with Taylor-Joy delivering a vulnerable but determined portrayal of the titular character. She commands the screen whenever present, impressive for an actor with a diminutive figure, her eyes able to bring such feeling to her performance. She’s joined by an incredibly talented supporting cast that each brings a quality to their respective character. The relationship between Lucky and her father is a key part of the proceedings, and Timothy Olyphant has that ability to portray both sides of a character that makes him someone you can easily trust one moment and lose faith in the next – something his own daughter struggles with throughout.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor brings an obsessive nature to FBI Agent Billie Rand, using people to her advantage in her quest to bring the criminals to justice. Clifton Collins Jr. is always one who impresses in smaller roles, and he’s quietly intimidating as Dutch, Priscilla’s right-hand man – he’s fed up with Lucky continuing to run, providing some light-hearted moments from his character.
Lucky is one of the best shows of the year so far, fast-paced and direct in its narrative. With a magnetic lead performance from Anya Taylor-Joy, it adds fuel to the fire for Hollywood stars to jump into the world of television, where the quality is arguably better than that of film currently.
Continue Reading…
On Apple TV from July 15th / Anya Taylor-Joy, Annette Bening, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor / Showrunners: Jonathan Tropper & Cassie Pappas / Apple TV
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
