Good Luck (1996 film)

Good Luck is a 1996 American film directed by Richard LaBrie starring Gregory Hines and Vincent D'Onofrio as two physically disabled men who come together to challenge themselves out of their unsatisfactory lives.

Good Luck
Movie Poster
Directed byRichard LaBrie
Produced byShirley Honickman Hahn
Andrzej Kamrowski
Written byBob Comfort
Starring
Music byTim Truman
CinematographyMaximo Munzi
Edited byNeil Grieve
Production
company
East-West Film Partners
Distributed byMoki
Release date
  • March 7, 1997 (1997-03-07)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$39,962[1]

Plot

Hines plays a former dental student, Bern Lemley, who had to quit school just before finals because of a car accident that left him in a wheelchair. D'Onofrio plays a former pro football player, Ole Olezniak, who was blinded in a freak accident on the field. Before their accidents, Bern had been a tutor for Ole, and, after quitting his post-accident job as a denture technician, he approaches Ole about teaming up to enter a white-water rafting race on Oregon's Rogue River.

Production

The film was shot in Coos Bay, Winchester Bay, and Portland, Oregon.[2]

Release

The movie had its world premiere at the 1996 Seattle Film Festival under the title The Ox and the Eye, presumably because of D'Onofrio's brute strength and Hines's ability to see. It has also been known as Guys Like Us and Gimps, a term Hines uses in the movie to refer to his and D'Onofrio's characters. It was shown as a sneak preview during the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta.[3] It was released in theaters under its present title on March 7, 1997.

Reception

Emanuel Levy of Variety found the film to be "only a notch above the inspirational earnestness of a routine telepic", but praised it for the "strong rapport" between Hines and D'Onofrio.[4] New York Times reviewer Lawrence Van Gelder called it a "sweet, modest clone" of other inspirational movies that surpassed expectations due to its excellent acting.[5] Similarly, John Anderson of the Los Angeles Times noted the potentially melodramatic concept, but found it to be elevated by its performances.[6] Leah Rozen of People gave the film a positive notice, calling it "a small picture with a huge heart."[7] Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B+" grade and said it was a "quietly quirky movie" that "turns genuinely uplifting".[8]

References
  1. Good Luck at Box Office Mojo
  2. "Filmed in Oregon 1908-2015" (PDF). Oregon Film Council. Oregon State Library. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  3. "Good Luck", ABILITY Magazine, 1997 (interview of Hines, D'Onofrio, and Max Gail).
  4. "Review: 'Good Luck'", Variety, January 2, 1997.
  5. Lawrence Van Gelder, "Good Luck (1996): From Rage to Friendship", The New York Times, March 7, 1997.
  6. John Anderson, Loose, Irreverent Quality Helps Keep 'Luck' Afloat, Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1997.
  7. Leah Rozen, "Picks and Pans Review: Good Luck", People, March 24, 1997.
  8. Review of Good Luck, Entertainment Weekly, August 22, 1997.
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