Seven Times Lucky

Seven Times Lucky is one of those films that isn’t terrible exactly – it’s fairly well made and well acted – but it’s just so inconsequential and low-key that it’s forgotten minutes after it’s over. The movie casts Kevin Pollak as Harlan, a shyster who has recently taken in a new partner named Fiona (Liane Balaban). The two spend their time scamming random people out of relatively small amounts of money, but are quickly presented with the opportunity to pull off a score that’ll allow them to retire. Of course, this being a movie about conmen, there are twists and double-crosses a-plenty. Writer/director Gary Yates effectively imbues Seven Times Lucky with the sort of seediness one expects of a movie like this, while Pollak does a nice job of crawling into the skin of this down-on-his-luck loser. But the familiarity of the story and characters is so extreme that it’s impossible to ever really get into the movie, despite the best intentions of everyone involved. However, it’s hard not to get a kick out of seeing the Principal from Back to the Future (James Tolkan) back on the big screen.

** out of ****