DJariya

By djariya at 2011-12-11

Synopsis:



Written by David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood)

Directed by Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice)

Starring:
Dustin Hoffman
Nick Nolte
Dennis Farina
Jason Gedrick
Richard Kind
Jill Hennessy

9 episode 1st season

This is a special preview of the entire Pilot episode. If you miss it or can't record it tonight, you will have to wait until the official premiere on January 29, 2012.

Trailer:

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I'll bump this thread again in January when it officially premieres for those who can't watch it tonight. I can't wait to see this tonight. Will watch after Homeland.

Original Desmond

I personally find it sad to see a movie legend like Hoffman on the small screen

I know it's not as 'looked down upon' as it used to be with Kiefer killing it with 24 but still

DJariya

Why? It's HBO and he's working with Michael Mann and David Milch. That is already a good enough reason for an A-list movie star like him to take this job.

Gunde

Meh, most shows on HBO are better than anything he could be doing on the big screen.

DJariya

Stayed up until almost 4am watching this.

Great Pilot episode. Lots of really interesting characters. Great cast.

Loved how they slowly brought in Hoffman's character Ace into the storyline and focused more on the supporting characters. Those degenerate gamblers at the track were awesome. I have to wonder how long they plan to hide that they won the Pick 6.

Mann's directing was top notch. Liked how he shot the horse racing sequences. at the scene where the #8 horse broke his leg. It was kind of sad seeing the horse get euthanized, even though that is common place in horse racing.

I worked at the TVG Network for 2 months this past summer and got familiar with horse racing and alot of the terminology even though I'm not really a fan of the sport. Even if your not a fan of horse racing, I think there are some interesting storylines and characters here that will make this show watchable to non fans.

Now I have to wait until February 5th for episode 2. Damn you HBO!

dino88

Why? So he can continue to shine on the big screen in cinema classics like the Fockers series? The idea that television is a lesser medium is long outdated.

Shannon Nutt

Sorry guys, this was a snoozefest for me. Looks like Milch is once again determined to alienate his audience (see: "John From Cinncinnati") with dialogue that the audience can't follow and no clear sense of storyline.

I'll give LUCK a few more episodes to see if it starts connecting the dots, but since the "average" viewer usually stays or leaves a show based on the strength of its pilot, I think HBO has a really hard sell here.

DJariya

What was so hard to follow about the dialogue? Was it the horse racing terms? I followed it just fine, but then again I understand the sport and I think it's interesting to see some of the behind the scenes aspects of it. There is only 8 more episodes left, so I think they will get things going fast, especially with those scenes they showed for the rest of the season.

I also watched John from Cincinnati for a few episodes and that didn't grab me right away like this. But then again, the talent in front of the camera like Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Farina and Nick Nolte is a much better cast than Austin Nichols, Bruce Greenwood & Luke Perry.

sven

It was an "ok" pilot especially considering it was directed by Michael Mann who I hate with a passion.

The dialogue was hard to follow with the trainer and the male jockey because of their accents. The terminology didn't really bother me cuz I grew up at race tracks and teletracks.

DJariya

Some people are actually complaining on Sepinwall's blog that they won't watch the rest of the series because they are against horse racing and don't want to see horses die.

Someone actually thought the horse death scene was actually real.

There were a few who mentioned the horse racing terminology was really hard to follow.

Sepinwall gave the Pilot a very positive review.

Shannon Nutt

Yes, it was the terminology, combined with the heavy accents (and you can throw Nick Nolte mumbling into that as well). But, more importantly, it was this combined with the fact that Milch has a habit of throwing us into situations with no introduction - it's like the beginning and end of scenes have been edited out, and we're thrown into the middle of conversations that we have no context for.

Don't get me wrong, I see what they're trying to do here, I just think it's really hard to bring a show like this onto TV AND eighty-six "conventional" storytelling in the process. I'm assuming (given the knockout cast) that HBO is at least going to give LUCK a two-season commitment (hell, that might already be part of the deal), but longterm? Unless things change drastically from the pilot to the rest of the season, I still don't see this as a breakout "hit".

DJariya

That's a fair enough criticism. And I agree about Nolte. I couldn't understand half of what he was saying.

I think the character that was set up the best, yet had the fewest minutes of screentime, was Ace.

Red Dog

The cinematography in the racing scenes for this was incredible. I enjoyed it very much, but this might be a tough sell to people not familiar with the sport. It's a great cast.

mcnabb

I didn't know Michael Mann directed the episode, but I kept thinking during the episode, "This resembles Michael Mann's style so much!"

I thought it was a good pilot episode (most pilots are set-up and can't get to the meat of the story as to what the show will be by Episode 6 or 7). I am intrigued with the Horse Racing story, and that whole sport lends itself to shady characters, so it wont be a stretch for alot of shit to go down.

As for Dustin Hoffman being on the small screen, I think its great. Movies pretty much suck today because they cater to teenagers with dumb summer action movies, so Cable TV is where its at if you want to watch good acting and a good story. Hoffman, Nolte, and the others make this a solid cast.

I'll defintely give it another try in January.

spainlinx0

How dare someone speak ill of John From Cincinnati!

crazychris88

OK well First off I gotta say this pilot was pretty much a chore to watch for the first 35 minutes or so. Even while wrapping presents while watching it I was thinking that this show is not compelling in the slightest. But then things started to get pretty darn good. Good acting all around (although We really need to see a lot more of Dustin Hoffman, it seemed like he was in here for maybe 8 minutes total and he is supposed to be the star of this series...WTF?) and I am starting to appreciate the varied characters and the preview of the upcoming season looks absolutely phenomenal. So, Despite a somewhat weak pilot the series certainly looks like its gonna get rather compelling as we get further in. And I will be waiting to watch episode 2 come February.

uteotw

Among the trainer, the jockey, & Nolte, I think I only understood about half of what was said, if that.

Still, it seems promising so I'll give episode two a shot for sure.

I don't find Hoffman's being in this "sad" at all; more like redemption for the horrific Focker garbage. I was more like, "Oh yeah, this guy's actually a darn good actor..."

SteveA

I'm glad it wasn't just me who couldn't understand what was being said. For me, it was like Masterpiece Mystery on steroids.

DJariya

Ratings came out. 1.1M viewers watched this preview. Not good for the star power this show has, but keep in mind this only aired once and wasn't the "Official" premiere. Hopefully with a little more promotion this month and January, hopefully some more eyes will watch it January 29th.

chuckd21

Doesn't bother me at all. They don't make "acting" movies anymore. Name the last great Hoffman/DeNiro/Pacino performance in a film...

Shannon Nutt

That's interesting - I figured ratings would be great since HBO was using the BOARDWALK EMPIRE finale as a lead-in, plus the fact that HBO is keeping this episode off HBO GO and HBO On Demand until the "official" premiere.

Red Dog

Does anybody know - besides Luck, what are the other series in the winter HBO rotation and does that programming start before Feb. 5? I just canceled my HBO today short-term.

DJariya

24/7...Rangers/Flyers road to the Winter Classic HBO Sports documentary series. Starts today

The Life and Times of Tim. Starts Friday

Angry Boys...Starts 1/1

andicus

Okay, count me in to the group that doesn't get the horse racing terminology/couldn't understand a couple of the characters. I think that took me out of it a lot. It certainly didn't grab me right away, like Deadwood (or many other HBO series) did.

I'll probably watch a couple more episodes, especially since there won't be much else on when this returns.

JeffTheAlpaca

LOL

Pacino did the Kevorkian movie on HBO which was probably his finest acting job in a while and De Niro did Stone which was not a bad movie though nobody saw it.


The horse racing jargon annoyed me and the scenes with the 3 degenerates.

I will stick with it and I hope it cures my boardwalk empire withdrawal.

I hope it has more Hoffman and Nolte and Joan Allen should make it interesting.