Review on Luck Season 1 Assorted by Timothy Louis

David Milch (Deadwood) is a brilliant writer and a very restless individual. It was revealed that he was struggling with a gambling addiction and may have lost tens of millions of dollars on the Los Angeles circuit and poker rooms. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to see his creation Lucky, a love letter to gambling, played out across nine of the best television hours of all time. Milch may have exorcised his personal demons, but it's not hard to see just how deep he is in the world of horse racing and card games, and we all benefit from the inside tour. Of course, it helps that his partner and co-producer is none other than visual master Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice), a director who has made his career portraying rugged men in dangerous circumstances through a highly stylized lens. Mann's powerful combination of lush visual style and moody music, combined with Milch's quasi-Shakespearean-Raymond Chandler-esque dialogue, resulted in a stunning and highly original television season for HBO. Dustin Hoffman's performance as Chester "Ace" Bernstein, an aging gangster with a chip on his shoulder, is one for the ages. Like Tony Soprano, Ace is a gangster for us to deal with. The rest of the cast is top-notch, including a stellar performance from real-life Kentucky Derby winner Gary Stevens as Ronnie Jenkins, a burned-out and bitter jockey who struggles with alcoholism while trying to get back into his career. Horse race. And possibly not again, as Luck was banned from the air after one season due to backlash caused by PETA and other animal welfare groups after several horses died in the course of the show's production. I don't know if this was the result of negligence or if it was typical of what happens at the races in general and the show was an easy target. Anyway, there was too much attention for HBO and they canceled the series. With a name like Luck, they were pretty much asking for trouble. Thankfully, Episode 1-9's story arc appears to be complete and not like a show that was abruptly canceled. I rank it among the best of television's second golden age.