Lucky 13 Movie Review

I'm hard-pressed to name a more ill-advised and simply cringe-inducing motion picture than Lucky 13, a romantic comedy so far gone from both romance and comedy that putting Pauly Shore in it might have been an improvement.

Mop-topped Brad Hunt is the lead, a slacker/loser named Zach that's coming to grips with his long-term crush over Abbey (Lauren Graham, who can't save this picture with a half-hearted effort), whom he's never opened up with. She's leaving town, so Zach embarks on a voyage of self-discovery to figure out why he's been so unsuccessful with the ladies.

Well, that's easy: Turns out Zach is a slack-jawed idiot, matched only by his dimwit friend Bleckman (Harland Williams), who crudely grumbles his way through their random trips through Zach's romantic past -- which is driven wholly by accidentally running into old girlfriends at random locations.

Nothing much happens until the end, when Zach cleans up his image (we know because his curly hair is now straight) and goes for the gold. By then, we couldn't care less of course. Even though the film's running time is less than 80 minutes, it's a painful and agonizing ride all the way. Lines are forced -- at best -- and Hunt is so badly cast that you almost feel sorry for him. As for director Chris Hall, he has an uncanny ability to cut away from the actor whenever he delivers a "funny" line. Now that takes talent.