Lucky Break (2001)
Half-way through his 12-year prison sentence for an incompetent armed robbery, Jimmy Hands gets a lucky break: he's transferred to a prison from which he can probably escape. He convinces the governor to stage a musical in an old chapel next to the prison's outer wall. He rounds up volunteer actors and puts his escape plan into production. Two other barriers, besides the wall, confront him: the arrival of a nasty inmate, John Toombes, who insists on joining the escape, and Jimmy's feelings of attraction for Anabel, a social worker who agrees to appear in the play. Opening night approaches: is this Jimmy's breakout performance?
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Reviews
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Lucky break is one of those rare movies that basically went straight to DVD and one you rent if you've got a coupon from Blockbuster. Pay the $3.00 bucks and you won't be disappointed. I found the story completely original and an unpredictable but great ending.*** out of 4P.S Watch the ending credits.
"Lucky Break" is a romantic-comedy with the emphasis on comedy though it is understated and somewhat bland by Yankee standards. The flick is about a bunch of prison inmates who put together a stage musical play to appease their warden and provide cover for a prison break. The film has obvious parallels with "The Full Monty" though it is not quite as fresh or fun and the end is eminently predictable. "Lucky Break" is a fun romp, somewhat slow and a lot corny, which would be more at home on the BBC than the international commercial film market. (C+)Note - I shut my VHS of this flick off as soon as the credits rolled. Then having read the comment of another IMDB.com user, I went back and watched the credits which overlay a sort of visual epilogue tidying up loose ends. Thanks Cylex.
Please stop comparing this film to The Full Monty. The comparison is irrelevant. It is not, and never intends to be, a sequel to Monty.Please do have a look at this film as it is, actually, very good, with some well observed and interesting performances. Some reviews on here give the impression the film is unfunny. Not so. It works well as a light comedy/romance.Worth seeing too as an example of good British cinema. I wonder what Hollywood would have done with the script..? (On second thought... Let's not go there).Well done (again) Film Four.
Hard to believe that this is from the team that brought us 'The Full Monty', it is embarrassing to think that this may be seen outside of England. Monotonously paced, it never gets out of first gear and there is scarcely a funny line during the entire film, let alone an original one.