Frank Markland James Marshall stars as an ex-crook trying to go straight however this is hard because his criminal record keeps haunting him and ruins his chance for any decent employment, however when he gets his hands on a counterfeit plate, three sets of mobsters come gunning for him. (Such mobsters include Eric Roberts,William Forsythe, Sasha "Kickboxer 2-4" Mitchell,Patrick Kilpatrick, Ice-T and Dennis Hopper) If anything else, Luck Of The Draw answers the burning question of what became of Sasha Mitchell after Step By Step, however that aside, Luck Of The Draw is just terrible. Actually that's not true, Luck Of The Draw has potential to be a truly enjoyable movie but squanders it every chance it gets by giving us James Marhsall, an actor who has zero rapport with the audience. I admit that Eric Roberts and Sasha Mitchell's over the top portrayals of meat-headed hit men have their moments. As does Dennis Hopper. (As expected, he's Dennis Hopper for goodness sake!) but too much screen time is taken on the far less interesting James Marshall and a new love interest. Also wasted is Michael Madsen, who doesn't have that much screen time despite having a a substantial part of the plot. Overall it's just a low budget, underwritten and dull gangster style movie, with a solid B.movie cast that focuses too much time on a really dull leading man. So even though a cast this good promises something epic, it hardly delivers. But that's the luck of the draw, isn't it?*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

bob the moo Jack Sweeny is a young man just trying to get a job. Turned down at another bank due to his criminal record he meets a girl, Rebecca, but also witnesses a 3 way shootout between 2 groups of criminals and the cops over a suitcase containing perfect plates for counterfeiting bank notes. Jack grabs the plates and attempts to sell them via his friend Zippo. However with at least three different groups ready to kill him for the plates, Jack finds it's just one double cross after another.In the pitch meeting it must have sounded great, being sold as a sort of Pulp Fiction with more action and more punch. With the cast it must have looked promising – not a-list actors but a good line up of faces (just like in Pulp Fiction!). However somewhere along the line it all went wrong. Someone forgot to tell the writers and the director that this was what was wanted. So instead of an interesting tale all intertwining together, we have a daft thriller where each connection made just serves to make it all feel more convoluted and silly. I don't mind some leaps of faith, but how many unlikely events are we meant to swallow?This is made worse by the lack of fun and pace in the story. It just drags along with silly scenes providing no action or humour. Dennis Hopper shooting his own men is meant to be hilarious but it's just plain silly and a little sickening. As for the big shootouts at start and finish – they are directed with no flair and no excitement. Making the whole thing passable but certainly worth of it's UK DTV status.The cast looks good – hence my setting of the video recorder for it. However most seem to be trying to play it for laughs (without success) further undermining the film. Marshall is weak in the lead, with so much in support surely a better name could have been sought for the lead? Hopper hams it up with no thought of character – in fact no-one actually produces a character I ever cared about. Roberts clearly thinks this is a spoof of some sort. Forsythe is about as mysterious as a brick and he signposts his character's twists like he was directing traffic. Madsen seems happy just to show up and make the QT connection by riding in his car playing music from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Ice-T turns in another gangster role but he looks skinny and tired – is time catching up with him? And Patrick Kilpatrick! He looks cool and is always reliable as a heavy but does a laughable Irish accent (Belfast lad speaking!) and appears to be a terrorist of some sort (don't let the name fool you). Yet it took several goes for us to get his accent and his character is never explained even briefly – he literally just suddenly is involved in the plot!Overall this is not as bad a mess as I have made it sound as it is clearly good enough for teenage boys who just wants boobs and bangs without character or plot – a Saturday night rental if ever there was one! However to imagine how it must have appeared to those making it and seeing what the dogs dinner it became is just plain sad. Avoid.

Ghenghy Developed a bad habit of checking these reviews before watching a new flick. Glad I didnt get suckered in by the bad press. Strong cast carries the story. I mean, how can you go wrong with Hopper/Madsen/Ice- T/Roberts/Forsythe et.al. And if you think these guys are miscast you're missing the humor. Eric Roberts is hilarious as an obvious southern transplant that leans heavily on his best guinie accent when he tries to be menacing. And Sasha Mitchell from the old "Dallas" clan is hysterical as a hulking moronic bonebreaker. You gotta believe that Ice-T's not acting when he threatens to go to work on a couple of the boys with a "blowtorch and vice-grips." I loved it. OK, this film begs for an alternate ending but otherwise a fun ride. Doesnt deserve the criticism 8/10.

stephen niz No five words say `straight to video' quite as effortlessly as `from the director of GHOULIES'. As far as I can gather, LUCK OF THE DRAW is the only film in two decades to earn this label. Director Luca Bercovici has also gathered together a b-grade rat-pack to star in his comeback film.The video A-list come in all shapes and sizes. Michael Madsen is an acclaimed poet, and Dennis Hopper directed THE LAST MOVIE and EASY RIDER. Along with respected artists, the film boasts a bit-part for Ice T (transitional rapper), some kid apparently in GLADIATOR, and Eric Roberts, who never needed to pay cinema admission to see his own work.It starts off a bit like a b-grade rip-off of Michael Mann's HEAT, a contradiction in terms seeing as that film is the greatest of all cops & robbers pictures. It ends a little bit like.put it this way, if you haven't ever seen this ending, you spent the '90's under a rock.There are only two types of DTV films worth renting: those that are surprisingly good, or those that are woefully bad. In that sense, LUCK OF THE DRAW is a failure because it is average all the way.