Slowly but surely
HBO’S horse racing drama Luck gets off to a slow start but works its way to a sprint midway.
REMEMBER the time when you walked into a movie 40 minutes late? HBO’S latest series Luck feels that way – except that I was watching it right from the start.
From adrenaline pumping race sequences to tender moments between horses and their owners, this nine-episode series takes viewers through the world of horse racing and the various characters – jockeys, trainers, owners, agents and gamblers – brought together by it.
Set in the Santa Anita racetrack in California, viewers are first introduced to characters like gambling maestro Chester “Ace” Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), who is recently released from a threeyear prison sentence and with the help of his sidekick Gus (Dennis Farina), is now planning to take over the racetrack. But more than that, Ace’s comeback is to punish several of his former business partners responsible for putting him behind bars.
We then meet the conniving horse trainer, Turo Escalante (John Ortiz), who purposely masks a horse, Mon Gateau’s, real potential, by bandaging its front legs to make it appear weak and hence tamper with the odds in order to rake in some handsome winnings.
Then there’s Walter Smith (Nick Nolte), the grumpy old horse owner of Gettin’ Up Morning, haunted by a troubling past. Unknown to many, the horse is the offspring of the legendary Kentucky racehorse Delphi owned by Smith’s former boss (known only as “The Colonel”) but trained by Smith. Following the death of The Colonel, Delphi was handed down to an heir who decided to kill the horse and cash in on a lucrative insurance policy. As such, Smith is more determined than ever to groom and maximise Gettin’ Up Morning’s potential.
These characters and many more find their lives intertwined at Santa Anita. Luck is a rich tapestry offering not only a look into the horse racing community but explore themes relevant to every human heart: power and wealth for some, revenge and regret for others – but if only we could understand.
You see, the problem with the series so far is that it makes little attempt to help viewers understand the niche and perhaps dying horse racing business. Right off the bat, viewers are expected to know jargons like “pick six” – which after some research basically refers to a type of betting where gamblers must pick the winning horse for six consecutive races – and “bug boy” – an apprentice horse rider who rides on whichever horse that he’s given. Worse, the jargon is conveyed, or should I say mumbled, in a husky incomprehensible accent that has the tendency to make you want to hand them a glass of water, and while you’re at it, throw in a couple of extrastrong throat lozenges.
To make matters worse, in the first few episodes, these conversations, besides being incomprehensible, are long and laborious with little action save for a few race sequences here and there. Its storyline trots along slowly, and at times, may seem directionless.
The characters are cold and often grouchy (one even tearing open his shirt in the middle of a dialogue), maddened by circumstances that suggest I should be feeling the same way too, which of course, thanks to their inaudible accent, know nothing about.
Thankfully, the series redeems itself by roping in some lay characters that viewers can finally identify with. Its saving grace comes in the form of four slackers – Marcus, Jerry, Lonnie and Renzo – who do nothing but hang around the sidelines of the racetrack all day hoping to strike it rich with their bets. But this seemingly useless lot is perhaps the series’ most useful (and entertaining) characters yet in terms of helping viewers understand the exclusive horse racing industry.
“Two of the (four) degenerate gamblers are less experienced and ask the kind of questions that people who are not familiar with the track would ask,” Luck creator David Milch explains in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s one reason why I introduced them,” he adds.
All those hours spent staring at the racetrack pays off when the four chip in on a bet, namely, a pick six (ahem), and ends up winning Us$2.6mil collectively.
From here on, the series picks up steam as they decide on what to do with the money and the surprising friendship that develops. For the first time, this tough manly-man series reveals its soft spot when the guys go through extraordinary lengths to pull Jerry, a poker addict, out from what would be a losing gamble.
A few more episodes in, Luck gets better as viewers are pulled in for a closer look at other characters such as the jockeys, Leon and Rosie. Leon, a bug boy filled with dreams of one day becoming the most sought-after horse rider, struggles to lose weight (the horse races faster with a lighter load) even to the point of jeopardising his own health.
Meanwhile, viewers begin to feel for Rosie, an exercise rider – a person who takes the horses out for a warm-up before a race – tries to prove her worth in order to join the ranks of the rare few female jockeys at Santa Anita.
Despite the series’ slow start, Luck is finally working its way to a sprint. What I admire most about the series is its reluctance in introducing unnecessary scandals and controversies just to jack up ratings, as witnessed in one too many TV series.
Luck makes a risky bet by taking its own time and standing firm on delivering pure unadulterated storytelling about the world of horse racing.
Unfortunately, following the casualty of three horses used in the series, Luck will not be returning for another season.
Luck airs every Monday at 10pm on HBO (Astro Ch 411).