LUCK CAST AND CREW Director: Michael Mann Writer/Producer: David Milch Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, Richard Kind, Jill Hennessy and Jason Gedrick.

Episode 4: The Metaphysical Dialogues   

When it comes to listening, is there a better actor in the world than Dennis Farina, who actor who plays Gus Economou, the chauffeur and confidant of Chester “Ace” Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) in HBO’s soul searching horseracing series, Luck?

With almost every line, the camera follows Farina’s bemused and delicate facial mannerisms as he navigates the emotional transactions between himself, his boss and the world. Ace doesn’t trust or fully understand anyone, except maybe Gus, no matter how much power he still retains.

Episode 4 features some of the best dialogue so far on the show, and some of the best that I’ve ever seen on TV.

In the closing scene of Episode 4, Gus listens to Ace weigh his feelings towards Claire LeChea, an activist who hopes to tap Ace to help in her effort to rehabilitate prisoners through their work with broken-down racehorses. 

“She seems like a very nice woman,” Gus says, after Ace claims he simply wants to help her out—and that he has no ulterior motives.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Bernstein says.

Ace smells the letter he got from Claire.

“I found her pleasant right off,” Gus says.

““Yeah, well don’t look at me like I got intentions that I haven’t had for some time.”

“How do you know I’m looking?”

“I can tell.”

“Well for however I’m looking, I apologize, OK?”

“Sexual attraction and so forth, that ship set sail some time ago and left port. If I can help the woman, that’s what I want to do.”

“She seems like a very nice woman.”

The camera lingers on Bernstein as he seems about to cry.

“I’ve been confused about my behavior for some time now, I’ll tell you that.”

This confession, where characters judge themselves in a harsh, unforgiving manner, is typical of the scenes in this show. Behind the brute force, the bravado, and the arrogance of having “luck” on your side, it all means nothing when your soul is on the line.

Ace is like everyone else in this series—he judges himself with equal measures of hope, delusion and self-retribution.

There is no mistaking the spiritual directions of this series—and I mean spiritual in the most metaphysical definition of the term.

For Bernstein, the real question is whether he can simultaneously pursue retribution against those who betrayed him—a sentiment fueled by Gus and an emotion driving each scene in which Hoffman appears–and still find something inside him that would let him truly love someone.

The morning line in my book says Bernstein can’t do both. What do you think?

Jerry Stands Face-to-Face with the Devil (Himself)

Episode 4 opens with Jerry dousing his face over and over in the casino bathroom, drained of hope, lost in more ways than money can count.

He stares at himself in the mirror, silently tormenting himself.

What am I doing? What is happening to me? How can I lose this badly?

Jerry looks like hell. In a nearby stall, we hear the arrogantly pissing Leo, delivering a sermon on the “baby reasons” Jerry keeps losing his ass at the card table.

“Jerry, you’re not strong,” Leo says. “Right time comes, you show your ass….maybe some baby reason…time comes your baby reason…make you’re playin’ and the cards won’t let you. Anyhow, you say ‘fuck  the cards’….maybe I get lucky…I want to be lucky for my baby reason…that’s how I know you show your ass to me, Jerry.”

Jerry dries his hands and says, “The thing you want to be careful with Leo…is my baby reason don’t wind up splitting your head open for you first.”

On the surface, I am not sure I fully understand this dialogue. All I know is that I have never heard anything close to this on TV.

Jerry is separated from the only family he has, the pick six crew. Down at the track, the railbirds gather to see what the luck looks like for the day. They know that Jerry is in big trouble.

They eventually bail him out, but not before Jerry has lost a mountain of money.

———————————-

Getting Up Mornin’ and the Deliverance of Trainer Walter Smith (Nick Nolte)

In episode 4, Walter Smith sends his horse out to a victory. There is a palatable yearning, watching Smith will the horse from the back of the pack to the finish line.

Nolte rocks back and forth, mutters to himself, prays, anything it takes.

The scene is supposed to be happy, but there is overwhelming sadness at the outcome.

Is this what deliverance feels like?

Once, again, after the horse wins, there is a confessional scene where Smith is talking to himself, face to face with Getting Up Mornin’, but is actually talking to the horse’s sire, Delphi.

“No mistaking, Delphi.  This is your son.”

“You know I hope to god you can see him.”

“Anyways, he’s your son.  God I hope you know that.”

Nolte delivers this monologue like a prayer, as if owning up to something we do not yet know, literally throwing himself at the mercy of Delphi.

It makes you wonder if Nolte somehow compromised his values and was somehow responsible for the death of Delphi.

All of the other characters involved in this “win” are surrounded by sadness and regret. The winning jockey (Shanahan) is having an affair with the bug Leon, who is having trouble  making weight. The couple say nothing about it, but the issue hangs in the air.

The agent is not happy because a win means his rider (Gary Stevens) is less likely to get the mount after his collarbone heals.

Joey (the bug’s agent) is distraught and goes off at the bar. The bartender lets him rant. Stevens is on a bender and the bug can’t make the weight.

Escalante looks at the bug through his binoculars and says, “Is he gaining weight?”

“The bug?” Joey says.

“No, that Mormon girl who used to sing with her brothers.”

Joey vigorously defends his jockey, but he knows the truth, that he is having trouble making the weight.

Ace and Mike: The Long Awaited Meeting

Since the very first moments of Luck, we have been waiting for the confrontation between Ace and Mike, the mysterious character who we are led to believe is responsible for sending Ace to prison.

After meeting Claire, Bernstein and Mike (Michael Gambon), meet up aboard Mike’s yacht. Gambon, known for his role as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, is nothing like that character here.

After the pleasantries are put aside, the two heavyweights get down to business.  The dialogue is about this and that, and ostensibly about whether Mike “wants a piece” of the casino deal Ace is putting together. In reality, however, this is a scene about retribution and the price Ace is willing to pay for revenge.

Mike knows all is not right.

“How [about] I still call you Chester?

“Go ahead.”

“Too tawdry,” Mike says.  “Pretend we can get back to that.  I’ll call you Ace now. Like everyone else.”

Think about that dialogue.  What in god’s name are they talking about?

“Was wondering if you are arranging some fun at the expense of some erstwhile colleagues,” Mike says, trying to get at Ace’s real motives.

“No,” Ace says.

“Even Jesus Christ of Nazareth was tempted to anger, Ace….” Mike says.

“That’s not the way I operate,” Ace says.

“No sweat, Ace Bernstein, unlike Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”

“You prick…how do you know I didn’t sweat?” Bernstein explodes.

This is what the scene has been leading up to—forget the yacht, the casino deal, the women that Mike offers to Ace like hors d’oevures.

This episode is directed by Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Salt).

David Milch and Writing Scenes

The story I have read about how Milch writes his scenes is unusual.  He does not type his ideas into a computer. According to a story in the New Yorker, Milch wrote scenes each morning for Deadwood while lying on the floor, talking to a screen, while others transcribed what he said into the computer. According to the article, to type into a computer would create  “opportunities for obsessive-compulsive distraction.”

More from the New Yorker article: Last spring and summer, as the first season’s episodes were being aired, Milch convened the writers and interns for several weeks to explore how characters, themes, and story lines might evolve, and the transcriptions of those sessions totalled hundreds of single-spaced pages. “We want to integrate the individual story lines into the over-all emotional atmosphere,” he said at one point. “The first season is about the individuals improvising their way to some sort of primitive structure. . . . There’s a provisional sense of promise.” In the second season, he suggested, “what ought to haunt the atmosphere is that the gold may have dried up. . . . What you want every character to be looking at is ‘What’s the worst-case scenario? What’s the disaster scenario? They sink the shafts and there’s nothing there.’ ” Milch has a prodigious memory, which means that these densely layered observations are at the disposal of his consciousness, as well as his unconscious, when he finally sits down, or lies down, to write. After witnessing this process on several occasions—the ambience in the room seems equal parts master class and séance—the comparison that strikes me as most apt is channelling. The only sounds are the hum of an air-conditioner and Milch’s voice, or, more precisely, the voices of his characters speaking through him.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/02/14/050214fa_fact_singer#ixzz1msBRiitZ

 

The Best Movie Scene Ever (Dialogue from True Romance, by Quentin Tarentino)

Coccotti: You know who I am, Mr. Worley?

Clifford: I give up. Who are you?

Coccotti: I’m the Anti-Christ. You got me in a vendetta kind of mood. You tell the angels in heaven you never seen evil so singularly personified as you did in the face of the man who killed you. My name is Vincent Coccotti. I work as counsel for Mr. Blue Lou Boyle, the man your son stole from. I hear you were once a cop so I can assume you’ve heard of us before. Am I correct?

Clifford: I heard of Blue Lou Boyle.

Coccotti: I’m glad. Hopefully it means we can cut out the part of the conversation where you’re wondering how full of shit I am.

Clifford: I haven’t seen Clarence.

Coccotti: You see that? [Holding a clenched fist, then striking Clifford] That smarts, doesn’t it? Getting slammed in the nose. Fucks you all up. You get that pain shootin’ through your brain, your eyes fill up with water. That ain’t any kind of fun, but what I have to offer you, that’s as good as it’s gonna get. And it won’t ever get that good again. We talked to your neighbors. They saw a Cadillac. Purple Cadillac. Clarence’s purple Cadillac, parked in front of your trailer yesterday. Mr. Worley, you seen your son?

Clifford: Now, wait a minute and listen. I haven’t seen Clarence in three years. Yesterday he shows up here with a girl, sayin’ he got married. He told me he needed some quick cash for a honeymoon, so he asked if he could borrow five hundred dollars. I wanted to help him out so I wrote out a check. We went to breakfast and that’s the last I saw of him. So help me God. They never thought to tell me where they were goin’. And I never thought to ask.

Coccotti: Sicilians are great liars. The best in the world. I’m Sicilian. My father was the world heavyweight champion of Sicilian liars. Growin’ up with him I learned the pantomime. There are seventeen different things a guy can do when he lies to give him away. A guy’s got seventeen pantomimes. A woman’s got twenty, but a guy’s got seventeen. And if you know ‘em like ya know your own face, they beat lie detectors to hell. Now, what we got here is a little game of show and tell. You don’t wanna show me nothin’. But you’re tellin’ me everything. Now I know you know where they are. So tell me, before I do some damage you won’t walk away from.

Clifford: Could I have one of those Chesterfields now?

Coccotti: Sure.

Clifford: Got a match? Oh, don’t bother. I got one.

Coccotti: …your son, the cowboy, and his flame, came in the room blazin’, and didn’t stop ’till they were pretty sure everybody was dead.

Clifford: What are you talkin’ about?

Coccotti: Talkin’ about a massacre. They snatched my narcotics, hightailed it outta there. Woulda got away with it, but your son, fuckhead that he is, left his driver’s license in the dead guy’s hand.

Clifford: You know, I don’t believe you.

Coccotti: That’s of minor importance. What is of major fucking importance is that I believe you.

Clifford: You’re Sicilian, huh?

Coccotti: Yeah, Sicilian.

Clifford: You know, I read a lot. Especially about things that have to do with history. I find that shit fascinating. Here’s a fact, I don’t know if you know or not, Sicilians were spawned by niggers.

Coccotti: Come again?

Clifford: It’s a fact. You see, Sicilians have black blood pumpin’ through their hearts. If you don’t believe me, you can look it up. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, you see, the Moors conquered Sicily. And Moors are niggers.

Coccotti: Yes…

Clifford: So you see, way back then, uh, Sicilians were like, uh, wops from Northern Italy. Ah, they all had blonde hair and blue eyes, but, uh, well, then the Moors moved in there, and uh, well, they changed the whole country. They did so much fuckin’ with Sicilian women, huh? That they changed the whole bloodline forever. That’s why blonde hair and blue eyes became black hair and dark skin. You know, it’s absolutely amazing to me to think that to this day, hundreds of years later, that, uh, that Sicilians still carry that nigger gene. Now this…

[Coccotti laughs]

Clifford: No, I’m, no, I’m quoting… history. It’s written. It’s a fact, it’s written.

Coccotti: [laughing] I love this guy.

Clifford: Your ancestors are niggers. Uh-huh. Hey. Yeah. And, and your great-great-great-great grandmother fucked a nigger, ho, ho, yeah, and she had a half-nigger kid… now, if that’s a fact, tell me, am I lying? ‘Cause you, you’re part eggplant.

Coccotti: Ohhh!

Clifford: Huh? Hey! Hey! Hey!

Coccotti: You’re a cantaloupe. [shoots Cliff in the face]

Quentin Turantino on Dialoge [excerpt from the Quentin Turentino Archives]

CS: How exactly have Elmore Leonard’s books influenced your writing style?
QT: Well, when I was a kid and I first started reading his novels I got really caught up in his characters and the way they talked. As I started reading more and more of his novels it kind of gave me permission to go my way with characters talking around things as opposed to talking about them. He showed me that characters can go off on tangents and those tangents are just as valid as anything else. Like the way real people talk. I think his biggest influence on any of my things was True Romance. Actually, in TRUE ROMANCE I was trying to do my version of an Elmore Leonard novel in script form. I didn’t rip it off, there’s nothing blatant about it, it’s just a feeling you know, and a style I was inspired by more than anything you could point your finger at.
CS: The strongest scene in TRUE ROMANCE is the confrontation between Cliff [played by Dennis Hopper] and Coccotti [played by Christopher Walken]. How did you approach crafting that scene?
QT: The way I write is really like putting one foot in front of the other. I really let the characters do most of the work, they start talking and they just lead the way. I had heard that whole speech about the Sicilians a long time ago, from a black guy living in my house. One day I was talking with a friend who was Sicilian and I just started telling that speech. And I thought, “Wow, that is a great scene, I gotta remember that.” In True Romance the one thing I knew Cliff had to do was insult the guy enough that he’d kill him, because if he got tortured he’d end up telling him where Clarence was, and he didn’t want to do that. I knew how the scene had to end, but I don’t write dialogue in a strategic way. I didn’t really go about crafting the scene, I just put them in the room together. I knew Cliff was going to end up doing the Sicilian thing but I didn’t know what Coccotti was going to say. They just started talking and I jotted it down. I almost feel like a fraud for taking credit for writing dialogue, because it’s the characters that are doing it. To me it’s very connected to actors’ improv with me playing all the characters. One of the reasons I like to write with pen and paper is it helps that process, for me anyway.

Read a Review of Episode 3

Read a Review of Episode 2

 

A Review of HBO’s Kaleidoscopic Luck, Episode 3, Starring Dustin Hoffman

LUCK CAST AND CREW Director: Michael Mann Writer/Producer: David Milch Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, Richard Kind, Jill Hennessy and Jason Gedrick.

In Episode 3, the plot of HBO’s Luck weaves in and out focus like the mirrored lens of a kaleidoscope, as the characters pursue one set of goals on the surface, but underneath, have entirely different agendas.

Sort of like a trainer seemingly running a horse to win, but actually, trying to set up the horse up for a bigger payday in the future.

Welcome to the world of horseracing.

When watching HBO’s Luck, you definitely need to keep your plot decoder ring handy.

Although I have read many comments about Luck being “difficult,” and “slow” plot-wise, I do not agree. Nor do I agree that the dialog is inaudible.

The director of Luck, and the actors, are just letting you hear what they want you to hear.

Dustin Hoffman on Director Michael Mann:  

“He’s an actor’s dream … to get the authenticity that he wants, he asks you to go ‘under’, whereas a lot of directors might ask you to pull the wallpaper down… “He wants the performance to be more like life,” he says. “Actors use the word ‘pushing’ … [but] going under means not pushing to hit a note.”

For me, complaining that the plot is too slow is like calling The Sopranos too violent. You get what you pay for. This series has an inner rhythm that does not lend itself to easy viewing. It is like the symphonic music Bernstein is listening to when he is surprised by his parole officer for another pee test. Even there are no words, there is something complex and beautiful about the moments.

Black Beauty fans need not waste their time on Luck.

Mirror Opposite Characters Drive Episode 3 of Luck

Episode 3 puts several core Luck characters in full-on acting glory, often in mirror opposite position to one another. On the one hand, there is the newly released ex-con Ace Bernstein, energized by revenge and his reluctant reassertion into a world he doesn’t trust. On the other hand, you have trainer Walter Smith, played by Nick Nolte. Smith is gravely serious to the point that he seems pulverized by a pain he cannot express. He is obsessed with the pursuit of victory with a horse that carries the mysterious burden of his sire on his shoulders. It is not the horse that needs to win—it is the trainer.

Episode 3 of Luck is loaded with scenes about the inside world of racing. With the camera perched right inside the starting gate, you hear real horse snorts, see the jockeys swearing and “jockeying” for position as they hit the turn. You hear swirling sounds (words?) muttered under characters’ breath, and do not know exactly what they said. 

Fortunately, for those who like dialog, the sarcasm is at full volume in Luck.

As you watch these scenes, remember not to fall for the head fake.

At the same time, the show is almost like a racing documentary. You find out how to file the paperwork needed to enter a horse in a race. You see how some jockeys make weight, and almost die doing it, in the sweat box. You learn how a horse gets assigned a post position. You see a stable hand remove a horseshoe. You listen to a jockey’s agent (Richard Kind) continually working it to get his jockey better mounts.

You see a compromised vet (Jill Hennessey) judge a horse as “racing sound,” even though it shouldn’t be. You see the track doctor clear a jockey to keep racing even after he has just cracked his head open.

You see unscrupulous horse trainers living on thin margins, such as the one who sold the unsound horse to the pick six crew. Fittingly, this “trainer” is beyond sleazy, complete with a pit bull and a dirty mop outside his door to greet anyone who should choose to visit him. 

Most of all in Luck, you find out that the trainers are the people who hold the cards at the racetrack. They have more power than the owners. The bettors have virtually none.

Trainers seem to have more power than the horses themselves.

The Pick Six Crew of Luck (Kevin Dunn, Ian Hart, Ritchie Coster and Jason Gedrick)

In episode 3, there is a fascinating scene where the pick six gang  learn the rules of the road of being horse owners. In reality, they learn just how beholden they are to the trainer and the horse.

So much for the glory of horse ownership.

The horse they just bought (which was falsely certified as “racing sound”) is about to enter Escalante’s stable. Escalante (John Ortiz) rattles off all the expenses to his wide-eyed “owners.” They stare with utmost conviction and not a small amount of trepidation at what they are in for.

“It will cost $85 a day for training. $125 for a blacksmith. $3 a day for vitamins. $60 for carrots. $125 for acupuncture. $25 for the pony who works out the horse. $200 for the van to take the horse to any other track. Vet bills, Silks,” Escalante explains.

At the end of this scene, the pick six crew take turns petting the horse, like children at a petting zoo.  Escalante’s helper gives them carrots. The new owners are told to keep their hands open when they feed their new horse the carrots.

Knowing what viewers do about their horse’s injury, you get the distinct feeling that feeding the horse these carrots might be the only true reward they get, when it is all said and done.

So you want to own a racehorse?

And yes, it might still be worth it. Such is the beauty of horseracing.

Ortiz plays the character beautifully, simultaneously duplicitous and true to a code only he seems to understand. Like the other actors in this series, Ortiz has a great track record. He is a co-founder with Phillip Seymour Hoffman  of the LAByrinth Theater Company, which is based in New York City.

Director Alan Coulter (The Sopranos, Damages)

Luck probably has twice as many scenes as the average TV drama.  The dramatic payoff is in the layering of the scenes. The editing jumps in time from one scene to the next, back and forth, so that several scenes start and stop at once.

Allan Coulter (The Sopranos, Damages) directs this episode with complete control over the material.  There are many scenes where you think you understand what is happening, but it is only upon second viewing that you get the real meaning of the scene.

Behind the action, producer Michael Mann brings years of real world street drama experience to the table. Part of Mann’s skills were honed on Police Story, which was one of the first “reality” cops shows, along with NYPD Blue (David Milch). One of the originators of Police Story was Joseph Wambaugh [the cop-turned-novelist]. Want to get a taste of the earliest In Cold Blood-flavored cop movies? Check out The Onion Field, Waumbaugh’s ground-breaking police drama starring James Woods.

Ace Bernstein, Gus and Nathan Israel

In episode 3 of Luck, Hoffman’s scenes are amazing and complex.

Hoffman shows up for a board meeting and rapidly cuts to the chase. He orders a board vote to approve $50,000,000 for an investment. The board chairman is caught in a factual error by young financier Nathan Israel, who is an expert in “Munich derivatives.”

As a “passive” investor, Hoffman has the whole boardroom kowtowing to him, except for the young Israel, who dares to question him on the wisdom of executing such a transaction so quickly.

Bernstein seems to leave in anger. In vintage Hoffman twitch mode, he half-smiles, half-walks, while the board chairman clambers to regain his footing, chasing from behind.

“Sir?”

“He’s here based on what?” Bernstein says.

“Do you want me to get rid of him?”

“Don’t answer a question with a question.”

“He’s exceptional with Munich derivatives.”

“Send him up to my place.”

“What time do you want him?”

No answer.

The question I have is, how do you write that!!!! Amazing dialogue.

Later on, during the “interview” at his place, Gus and Bernstein do their best to rattle the young Israel.

“Why did I get locked up?” Bernstein says.

“What were the charges, or why do I think they went after you?” Israel says.

“Can’t be straightforward? [looks at Gus] More important to him to see he’s in college.”

Farina gives a priceless expression.

“4 kilograms of cocaine,” Israel says.

“Do you think this comes from a job at McDonalds?” Bernstein says, exploding a little.

Once again, the subtext is what is driving the action—the point of the scene is to show how Bernstein can tolerate—and even appreciate—a person who is not a “yes” man. It is only later on, when Ace is confiding with his “chauffeur/advisor” Gus, that he confides that it is these qualities that he has in mind to drive his yet-to-appear-on-screen-enemy Mike, “crazy.”

Michael Mann on directing Hoffman in the prison movie Straight Time:

“There’s people who live life authentically and there’s people who live a life of fabrication. And it begins with the question of how you’re gonna do your time. And these are observations I made about Folsom when I was there with Dustin Hoffman when he was directing Straight Time. He directed it for two or three days, then he fired himself because he realized he couldn’t direct and act at the same time…. It was my first time in Folsom which was the end of the line of the California Penal System, which meant it had a mature population of convicts. There weren’t guys who were freaking out because they were suddenly thrown into the joint, as if it was like San Quentin. When you kill somebody in San Quentin, then you got sent to Folsom. So the operative phrases were things like, you’d hear people say ‘this guy could do a nickel or dime standing on his ear. He could do 5 or 10 years easily.’ But that meant it was the violence and the rules were ordered. But then the gang structures inside the prison, which at that time would have been Hell’s Angels — there was no Aryan Brotherhood then — Mexican Mafia — and the Black Guerilla Family, were beyond rigid. And it felt to me, viscerally, like this is lethal. It’s kind of like high school. We had 13 stabbings and one killing during the 19 days in which we were shooting. So it was obviously a dangerous place.”

Nick Nolte Emerges in Episode 3

In Episode 3, Walter Smith (Nick Nolte’s character) starts to emerge.  On the surface, he is the crusty old horse trainer, looking for one last shot at glory.  This is way too simple for this series.

Nolte is looking to make up for something, but we don’t yet know what.  We see him going into the horse secretary’s office, crumpled racing program in hand,  to register his horse, and to select his jockey. Critical decisions, but wholly underplayed.

Later we see Smith at the office where they draw post positions out of a bag.

Luck.

When the steward draws the ill-fated inside post, Smith rips into the journalist beside him, muttering, yes muttering something it is hard to hear, only something you can understand.

You fucking jinxed me, he is saying. You don’t need to hear it to get it.

Bernstein and Gus Epiloge

At the end of episode 3, Bernstein and Gus, in what is now a recurring scene between these two ala Boston Legal, the two pass back and forth the revelries of their  day’s accomplishments and tomorrow’s pursuits.

“The Hook is sunk,”  Bernstein says.

“We can do what we need to do to get these guys,” somebody says.

“$1,000,000,” Gus says. “I thought he was going to…”

“I’m going to call that woman,” Ace says.

“What a beautiful horse,” Gus says.

The two men are on different tracks in their conversation, and both are slowly dozing off, not making complete sense.

They make just enough sense. This is the world of Luck.

Read a review of Episode 2 of Luck

 

LUCK CAST AND CREW Director: Michael Mann Writer/Producer: David Milch Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, Richard Kind, Jill Hennessy and Jason Gedrick.

Episode 2 Review of HBO’s Luck

Episode 1 of Luck ended with Chester (Ace) Bernstein telling his driver Gus “I don’t trust anyone, not even myself.”

In episode two, the pace quickens as several simultaneous plots pick up steam and begin to intersect. Episode 2 of Luck opens with Bernstein having to pass inspection for his parole officer. This scene is like so many in this series—the camera shots tell more than the words.

Bernstein sees a picture of Malcolm X on the wall of the African-American Parole Officer’s office. The parole officer sees Bernstein looking at it. Something passes between them. A bond of some kind is formed, though on the surface nothing is said.

Later, when the parole officer accompanies Bernstein to the john to have him pee in a bottle, he turns the water on for Bernstein because he is having difficulty starting.

“I have difficulty (peeing) if someone is watching,” Bernstein says.
“What’d you do inside? [the joint]”
“People made adjustments,” Bernstein says.

Some guys need to hear the sound of water to get started. The point is, the parole officer has compassion for Bernstein.  It is a scene that tells a lot about the kinds of human transactions taking place in Luck.

Leave nothing to chance is the tagline. Bernstein is not on drugs, so he will pass the pee test, but he is knee deep in dirty business already, and he has to have the parole officer on his side. The parole officer needs to bust Bernstein if anything illegal is happening, but for the moment, they are allies of a sort. 

HBO’s Luck and The Sopranos

People have compared Luck to The Sopranos—I say yes, but not in an overt manner—only in way manners are at the heart of the action.  The Sopranos relied on family dynamics, a business code and overt violence. Luck is setting up a different  dramatic flow–how losers and winners are both con men sharing a common space. Luck is the space in between.

It is all about planning and manners. Sopranos was about “family” and the code of order among criminals. At its core, The Sopranos was a HR story–when you got made, it basically meant you got a promotion.  

There will be violence in Luck, but not just yet. Right now, Bernstein’s driver is only considering a “hypothetic” revenge against those who crossed his boss, in his words.

In Luck, Ace is reconnecting with the mob, sorting out what is real and how he fits back in. In a scene where Bernstein pitches a new casino, the air is filled with the tension of a debt not yet repaid.

“Mike sends his best,” is what Bernstein hears, but he knows “the best” is probably not a good thing.

In the first episode, the pick six crew were riding high based on a $2,700,000 win. In this episode, each of the newly bankrolled losers are rapidly  spiraling back to earth.  Jerry is losing his shirt at a casino. Lonnie shows up in a new suit, “putting on airs,”  and gets jumped by two women who beat up him for bailing on an insurance scam they all had previously planned. Another one of the pick six crew wants to go legit and become a horse owner, but is unsuccessful. The ringleader, the acerbic, wheelchair bound Marcus, is bitter and unable to find any joy because to announce his newfound fortune is a betrayal of the code that he is bound by.

The scenes with Jerry are all about manners. He is playing at higher limit tables, losing and getting increasingly baited by the player across from him. Questions hang in the air about where his new money came from (he mentions a recently deceased aunt; a lie no one believes). The drama is about why he is still gambling. Why is he there? What we find out about the casino scenes between Jerry and the guy he is playing is that it isn’t who is ahead along the way; it is who is ahead at the end. Everything up to that point is window dressing. This is how a bettor needs to think to survive.

One trainer, Walter Smith (Nick Nolte)  is trying to avenge the morbid, insurance-driven death of a horse he used to train by turning the horse’s sire into a champion. On the other side of the coin, the shady trainer, Toro Escalante, is using a whole series of decoys to set up odds and mislead bettors to enrich himself. 

The action in Luck is in the setups, the head fakes, the cons, and yes, the luck each person is manipulating.

The second episode ends on a simultaneously hopeful and ominous note.

“Please tell me I didn’t let you down,” Gus says to Ace.

“I wouldn’t bullshit you,” Ace said.

“Then let’s go get these cocksuckers,” Gus says.

HBO’s Luck is Based on the Short Story, Leading in Luck, by William Faulkner

Like millions of others, our family came west to chase the American dream, and for a while we had it going on. The old man broke the one-month record for selling Shick razors. My artistic, blond bombshell mother went to acting auditions. I remember once she landed a role on a pilot game show as an up and coming singer/actress. Back then a young actress could do this. You could chase your dreams in between beach parties and sand filled movie magazines. This was a more innocent time in Hollywood, when LA was a place where nobodies could still be somebody.

Nowadays in Hollywood, it has gotten so competitive, it seems like you have to be a somebody just to be a nobody.

This was back in the day when game shows like “I’ve Got a Secret” featured nameless “stars” like Bill Cullen and Gary Moore smoking Winstons and making semi clever banter, and no one thought the worst of them for it.

 As a young boy, I remember wandering away from our hocked up house in North Hollywood, getting lost. I literally did not know where I was, but I ended up on a back end street somewhere where a crew was filming scenes for the old TV series, The Fugitive, which starred David Janssen (see left).  I was lost but felt no hurry to get home. I hung out around the production food truck, probably ate a donut, watching for a glimpse of the “stars.” At some point I told somebody that I was lost and the cops took me home.  Back then, a young 10-year-old kid could get lost and turn it into an adventure. Nowadays, I probably would have ended up in some pervert’s trunk somewhere. Ironically, years later they filmed the remake of The Fugitive in Chicago.

 

 

Leading in Luck Faulkner’s First Published Story 

 

Leading in Luck was Faulkner’s first published short story, and like my childhood  adventure on the set of The Fugitive, the story takes you into places you don’t expect. I have always been leery of Faulkner as a writer, as my fiction tastes run more towards Hubert Selby, ala Last Exit To Brooklyn, rather than The Sound and The Fury.

But there is a reason David Milch chose Leading in Luck as the basis for this TV show. (Note: Milch is signed to exclusive HBO contract to develop other TV properties based on Faulkner stories.)

Leading in Luck introduces you to Cadet Thompson, a young military trainee who is trying to pass his first flight test, so he can fly solo. The story revolves around the relationship between Thompson and a gruff, cigarette smoking instructor named Bessing. The story begins with Bessing dressing down Thompson for taking so long to learn how to fly on his own.

The story starts off so conventional and straightforward—not what you expect from the author of lofty works like Absalom, Absalom!, As I Lay Dying, etc. You almost get the feeling the young author was dumbing the story down just to get published, sort of Readers Digesting-it, or Norman Rockwelling-it, you might say.

A man’s moral conscience is the curse he had to accept from the gods in order to gain from them the right to dream. William Faulkner

But then the story then takes a turn that explains its connection to Luck. Bessing send young Cadet Thompson up in the air for his first solo run.

I remember another day, a few years later, when we were driving home from Longacres race track in Washington State.  My younger brother and sister and I went up to Washington from Venice Beach, where my mother stayed behind to pursue acting dreams and the anti-war movement. Will stayed back in California as well, hiding out in a beaded shack behind the main house, smoking pot and listening to the Beach Boys.

Me, my younger brother Bud, and my sister Mary from California went from the acid fueled action of Venice Beach to the snow covered, rotten egg smelling town of Tacoma, Washington to live with my dad. We were fine with it, since it was another adventure and dad was fun. He got us guitars and pinball machines and banana seat stingray bikes. He was now selling guitars and drums door to door for 1 cash payment and 48 month financing to parents who believed their child should have the gift of music as part of their contribution to the American dream.

I remember it rained all the time in Tacoma and many days I shot hoops by myself on a blacktop court down the street while the old man drank cheap wine by day and hit the card parlors in Seattle by night. I went with him some nights and saw what the world of gambling was about.

But on that day when we were driving home from the race track, I was fifteen. I was driving his wide, grey battleship Olds 78 up a winding Tacoma road where we lived with dad’s pinochle playing buddies, Snook and Alice. We almost made it. Dad was passed out beside me in the passenger seat, and Bud and Mary were in the back seat.  I remember seeing the red cherry top lights on the cop car as it pulled me over, and futilely trying to rouse the old man so we could “switch places.”

The cops arrested the old man, and took the three of us kids to a juvenile facility—one of the greatest places on earth—while dad went off to the tank to sober up. Juvie was a blast. I remember playing basketball with the other juvie kids, hanging out, feeling like home. It felt like we were away at camp.

Back to Landing in Luck—at one point, the young Thompson thinks he had cleared the cable, and it is only when he sees other planes frantically waving at him that he realizes he has lost his landing gear and he is heading to the ground, quite literally “a wounded duck.”

And it here that Faulkner’s story arc changes.  Down on the ground, Bessing is called on the carpet by his commanding officer for possibly letting the young cadet take on flying solo too soon.

As the gasless planes spirals to the ground Bessing mutters, “If he only remembers to land on his left wing—the fool, oh the blind, bounding fool!”

Up in the air, Thompson is panicking, barely conscious, and “his fate was in the laps of the gods.”

Bessing was the first to reach him.

“Lord, Lord!” he was near weeping from nervous tension. “Are you alright?” Never expected you’d come through, never expected it! Didn’t think to see you alive! Don’t let anyone else say you can’t fly. Coming out of that was a trick many an old flyer couldn’t do! I say, are you alright?”

Hanging face downward from the cockpit, Cadet Thompson looked at Bessing, surprised at the words of this cold, short tempered officer. He forgot the days of tribulation and insult in this man’s company, and his recent experience, and his eyes filled with utter adoration. Then he became violently ill.

And then Landing in Luck ends with a scene of real (or imagined?) triumph, where Faulkner’s southern gift for shifting the moral compass emerges.  Speaking to his fellow cadets of his heroic, miraculous landing, Thompson tells his fellow cadets how he had “planned” his downward landing all along.

The cadets  are not buying it, save one maybe.

“Say, spoke one, a cadet but recently enrolled and still in ground school. D’you think he really did all that? He must be pretty good.”

“That guy? That guy fly? He’s so rotten they can’t discharge him. Every time he goes up there they have to get a gun and shoot him down. He’s the F out of flying. Biggest liar in R.A.F.”

And so, like the characters in Luck, the characters in Landing in Luck walk a fine line of reality and delusion, where it is hard to tell what is real and what is a pipe dream. In the end, as Bessing and Thomson walk off arm in arm, the reader is left to consider whether they have truly accomplished a miraculous landing, or if it is a con to save both of their reputations.

I remember one night a bunch of us juvie brats were all hanging around doing nothing and somebody asked me what me and my brother and sister were “in for.” I knew, even though I had never been in juvie before, that this was a critical question. It would not be enough to say I was simply driving my old man home from the track because he was drunk. That would be a pussy reason to be in juvie.  That wasn’t exactly true anyway. I wanted to drive my old man’s car. But I needed something bigger to tell the other juvie kids. Something that showed I belonged. So I told them we were “in for” stealing a car, which was a lie. I once started up a tourist tram on Venice Beach and accidentally rammed it into a bench, but that could hardly be called stealing a car.

So I lied to the juvie kids. But it could have been the truth.  We were in the juvenile detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, and the house where we eventually went back to was all wined up and dark and cramped and hardly seemed real at all. It took the old man two and a half days to come and get us out, and by then I knew if I was going to survive, I needed to build my reputation. So I told them we were “in for” stealing the old man’s car.

David Milch on HBO’s Luck

In addition to Luck, David Milch has signed an exclusive agreement with HBO to produce TV series and films based on other selections from William Faulkner.

Says Milch: “I’m delighted to expand my longstanding relationship with HBO to encompass the adaptation of some of the most important literary works by any American writer into television films and series. As we embark on this ambitious project, our first commitment is to serve the material, and we look forward to identifying and collaborating with the best screenwriters and filmmakers to help each of the pieces find its ideal form onscreen.”

Milch brings first hand knowledge of the racing industry to table.  As an owner and bettor, Milch comes from a racing family. Milch’s father owned horses at Sarasota Race Track, and as a young boy Milch got an inside view of the world there.  Rumor has it that Filch’s uncles were bookies.

The genesis for Luck started with something called The Main Chance, which has since transformed into Luck.

Asked why he revisited “The Main Chance” five years ago, Milch said: “I figured that as long as I was getting my brains beat in [at the betting windows], I might as well try to make a few bucks in the process.”

Contributing writers for Luck include Jay Hovdey of Daily Racing Form and John Perrotta.

In spite of reported clashes on the set of Luck between David Milch and director Michael Mann, the two creative forces found a truce.

“You had two very strong-willed people, and there’s a lot of ego there,” a production source said.

HBO acknowledges that the two butted heads in the early going, when Mann closed the set while directing the pilot. “There were clashes on the pilot, although never about the content of the show or its vision,” HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said. “However, these two enormous talents, after viewing the pilot together, figured out a way to collaborate and make this work going forward on the series.”

The main conflict revolved around the editing process, which David Milch has previously had domain over in the writing process.  In working with Mann, he had to yield ground in this area.

Mann and Milch issued a joint statement saying they are happy with the working arrangement: “We both have the highest admiration for each other’s work. After the pilot was finished and both of us liked what we did, we decided — as two men who have been around for a number of years — we ought to be smart enough to figure out a mechanism that would enable us to work together to our and the series’ benefit. And we did.”

Rivers Casino Revenues – December

In the month of December, the Illinois Gaming Board reported that Rivers Casino in Des Plaines had $33+ million in adjusted gross receipts—triple what Joliet earned and double what Elgin earned.

Rivers Casino revenues again rose over the previous month—as it has done in almost every month since it opened.

Rivers is making roughly $107.00 per customer. Attendance was 12,000 higher in December than November, at 308,000.  This equates to roughly 30,000 admissions a day.

In all Illinois casinos, 1,333,248 customers made their way through the turnstiles, collectively generating Adjusted Gross Revenues of $135,364 (thousands).

Rivers Casino Promotions – Janaury

Here are the Rivers Casino Des Plaines promotions and giveaways for January. These promotions are current as of January 2 and are subject to change. See Rush Rewards for additional promotions. The casino offers loyalty points for using your Rush Rewards card on Rivers Casino slots and table games including poker, blackjack and craps.

Related Links How to Walk Out of the Casino Ahead Free Gambling Tools for Poker and Blackjack Everything You Need to Know About Rivers Casino The Des Plaines Rivers Casino Rivers Casino Slots

400,000 Sign Up and Win

If you sign up Rush Rewards today, you win guaranteed prizes,including free buffets, gifts & up to $10,000 in free slot play!

New sign ups only. Pending regulatory approval. must be 21.

Lucky Red Envelope Giveaway

January 22-25, 2pm-8pm Earn 25 points any one day to pick an envelope worth up to $5,000 in free slot play!

Must earn 25 points on one giveaway day between 9am and 7:59 pm. Guest may only participate one time throughout the giveaway. Pending regulatory approval. Must be 21.

Second Chance Santa

400 Winners
January 2-5, 10am-7pm

Give Santa another chance at the perfect gift! Every hour, you have a chance to win prizes such as gift cards, electronics, free slot play and more!

*25 points = 1 entry

*50 points = 1 entry for video poker.

Earning period is the 59 minutes prior to each drawing. Winners must be present to win. If winner is not present prize is forfeited and no additional winner will be called. Pending regulatory approval. Must be 21.

30,000 Lunar New Year Giveaway

Jan. 2-22

Sundays, January 8 and 15
Five winners will be selected at 8pm to receive $1,000!

Sunday, January 22
Five winners will be selected at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm and 8pm to receive $1,000!

Receive one entry for playing your favorite games:
Mini Baccarat: winning 30:1 dragon bonus bet, tie bet, natural 8 or natural 9 hand
Blackjack: winning suited blackjack; same color blackjack
Pai Gow: winning hand with a joker
Three Card Poker: winning straight flush or 3 of a kind
Four Card Poker: winning straight flush or 4 of a kind

Entry period begins at 9am on January 2, 2012. To be eligible, guests must have an open rating prior to hitting a winning combination for an entry. Must be present to win. If a winner is not present, their prize will be forfeited. No additional names will be called. Pending regulatory approval. Must be 21.

Email to Win

Stop by Rush Rewards and give us your email address for a chance to win $250 in
free slot play.

10 winners will be chosen on the last Monday of each month. Winners will be contacted
via email

Must be a Rush Rewards member to redeem promotional offerings. See Rush Rewards for complete rules. Drawings held on the last Monday of each month. Pending regulatory approval. Must be 21.