Wordiezett So much average

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

tonyp3101 After excitedly ordering this movie, I was finally able to view it last weekend. Both I and my co-viewer thought it was excellently acted and a suspenseful flick which was surprisingly better than we both expected. My viewing tastes tend toward edgy fare and I collect NC-17 rated movies (which are too few and far between unfortunately), and this is one of the best I have seen in the last couple of years. The production value was good and was obviously not hindered by budget. My favorite character was Ashley, nothing like a kick-ass no-holds-barred female to command attention. Kudos to the actors, writers, and director--great job! P.S., let the haters hate; they are going to anyway. I always have to wonder why people comment on films that they haven't even seen--why do we care about your opinion based on nothing but your own personal bias? Watch the movie, THEN comment.

Steve Pulaski Robert Nathan's Lucky Bastard fought strict censor restrictions in order to keep its NC-17 rating, effectively making it the first NC-17 found footage film ever made. Wisely so, because an R-rated Lucky Bastard would've been far more inferior than the NC-17 version we got as the final cut. Despite the film being exercised in the genre I run hot and cold with, Lucky Bastard finds incredible ways to be a gripping and suspenseful outing on a genre I wouldn't completely give up on just yet.Just last night, I watched Earth to Echo, a new found-footage adventure for young children that serves as this generation's E.T.. Not only am I fully confident in saying that this is the first and only time the mention of that film and Lucky Bastard will appear in the same review, but I am also saying that through these two films, I have found a reinvigorated sense of what the found footage genre can be if direction and approach are placed in the forefront of the film over gimmicky ideas and momentarily substantial little quirks. Both films have the ability to leave lasting impressions on viewers, especially Lucky Bastard in its often dirty and deeply disturbing nature.Following lowlit shots of a crime scene, the film opens where a young, attractive woman named Casey (Catherine Annette) is being interview for a potential porn video by two men. Shortly after the interview, we see her being viciously raped until another porn star named Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue) walks into the home before becoming overpowered by both of the men. However, a flub by one of the men causes for the staged porn shoot to cut, which is then when we see how this entire setup works. These "rape porn" videos are shot by a loyal cameraman and managed by the cocky and sleazy producer Mike (Don McManus), who is also dating Casey, but of course not exclusively.Following the shoot, Mike approaches Ashley about the idea of doing a shoot for his "Lucky Bastard" website, a site where a random and ambitious fan and subscriber of the series is picked to have sex with a porn star. After much convincing, being that some of Ashley's rules in the industry are no anal sex and no amateurs, she finally agrees, recognizing that she has two young children and several bills that need to be paid. The applicant they settle on is "Dave G." (Jay Paulson), a shy and squirrelly soul, who is clearly nervous about his first time being on camera and shaken when in the presence of the beautiful Ashley. Little else about the film can be said without leading into grave spoiler territory accept that Dave's behavior eventually begins to take a toll on the cast and crew of the "Lucky Bastard" shoot, leading to some incredibly unforeseen consequences.Lucky Bastard defines the rich elements of unpredictability in a film, so much so that just when you think screenwriters Lukas Kendall and Nathan are writing themselves into a corner, they miraculously find a way out and are able to construct another intricate and tense setup just as gripping as the first. Nathan fearlessly orchestrates this idea to the fullest extent, not only bringing to life the smuttiness of the porn industry, but also emphasizing that we (you know who you are) are the people that keep this industry in business. Because we crave and view strange and off-kilter pornography like this is why guys like these are in the business. Should we feel ashamed or should we keep on buying lotion and watching? In reviewers' rants about why Lucky Bastard somehow suffers from a lack of originality, let's hope they don't forget to recognize the great performances at hand here that come from more than Betsy Rue as the porn star, who clearly isn't a helpless, damsel in distress. The performance of the hour comes from Don McManus, who delivers the role of a sleazeball porn producer to such extreme effect, whether he's using his slickness to propel a scene forward, anger to scold and demean, or fear to convince and persuade. McManus shows the extreme diversity of an actor's emotional leverage in one, ninety minute project to the degree that some have a hard time conveying in over a decade in the business. Then there's Paulson, who we can't forget, plays the role of the innocuous and sweet man who doesn't know any better to a vindictive soul with similar leverage and effect to McManus. The unexpectedly refined and winning performances are what keeps Lucky Bastard engaging throughout.However, what keeps the film riveting, never boring, and a rousing great time is just the episodic structure of scenes you didn't expect or predict flowing so well together to create an intense and gripping final product. There is such a cluster of clever ideas and a barrage of different camera angles that work to make the film a consistently exciting great time. Few first time directors can make such an ambitious, gifted product, but Nathan - whose credits include working on the original staffs for shows like ER and Law & Order - uses incredible realism and quietly-vocalized questions to his advantage, creating a tense and well-structured piece of cinema from a genre I previously thought was long gone dead.Starring: Don McManus, Jay Paulson, Betsy Rue, Chris Wylde, Catherine Annette, Lee Kholafai, and Lanny Joon. Directed by: Robert Nathan.

Allardyce99 From the perspective of a life-long die-hard movie enthusiast, I really enjoyed Lucky Bastard and find myself surprisingly haunted by some of the imagery and the darkness of the story's main antagonist. It would be easy to dismiss Lucky Bastard as something trite and low-brow and seemingly not worth the time to pop some corn. Any movie in which the backdrop is the adult film industry suffers an immediate stigma and a lot of closed minds unwilling to consider it as a legitimate movie-going experience. That is unfortunate because there is much to treasure here, from the frequently hilarious dialogue to the spot-on performance of Don McManus to the shocking moments of violence that seem totally plausible in today's world.Lucky Bastard is a highly entertaining exercise in the found-footage genre, lending the impression that we are watching real people in a real situation. Unlike other found-footage movies that focus on the supernatural and therefore become questionable in their realism, Lucky Bastard unfolds with specific and tangible reality. Some may question the acting ability of the cast, but don't be fooled by knee jerk critical reactions. These actors know what they're doing to sell the concept of the movie, as do the artists behind the camera. The very premise, that of a young man who wins a date with his favorite adult film star and visits the set of an adult website to perform in a scene, is 200% believable in the p*rn-saturated cyber reality we live in today. And if you're paying attention, the movie addresses something far beyond the on-screen dalliances of a hopeful everyman and his dream woman. It's ultimately about the dangers of exploitation and the risk of gleefully humiliating so-called geeks, people we label without really knowing them or what they are capable of unleashing. When you consider the facts of today's world in which troubled young people walk into shopping malls and schools and IHOPs to open fire with automatic weapons, Lucky Bastard presents a disturbingly potential reality of what can and does happen when you don't know what you're really dealing with.To give away Lucky Bastard's plot turns would do a disservice to the prospective viewer. I would simply say give the movie a shot if you want to be entertained, amused, titillated, and ultimately shocked. The movie will gently carry you along for a while, making you laugh, misleading you into a lazy state of casual observation until the first shock comes. The latter half of the film is far from humorous, and there are moments that will resonate, especially when you think about the internet-obsessed guy next door who seems harmless yet a little creepy.Lucky Bastard puts a fresh spin on the found-footage genre and is effective in delivering laughs, surprises, and an ick factor that you'll think about after it's over. It's also worth mentioning that it's one of the few thrillers I can think of that delivers gruesome events in bright daylight, and that stylistic choice really stood out to me and helps distinguish Lucky Bastard as a unique and believable tale. I think this movie has a very strong appeal to a young, hip audience, and I'm really hoping it can get the attention it deserves and rise above those who would carelessly dismiss it. Check it out!

Blujunkie This movie was absolutely terrible. Save your money. If pretentiousness has ever been necessary in describing a film, this would be a prime example. It seems the only people that actually enjoyed this movie are those closely involved in its production. I'm sorry, but pornography and 'lost footage' just don't gel together to make a satisfying experience (I never felt 90 minutes go by this slowly). While attention to detail was evidently the focus during filming, the product as a whole is easily defeated by a lack of focus in polishing the script. However, in contrast to the odd subject matter, I seriously don't think it would have made a difference. If you want a great film that involves pornography, simply save your hard-earned dollars and go rent Boogie Nights (1997).