Lucky Girl (2001)

Lack of good storyline.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This 2001 Canadian made-for-TV movie has been airing on the Lifetime Movie Network under the title "My Daughter's Secret Life," leading one to expect another cheesy, moralistic "Moment of Truth" type chick flick. "Lucky Girl" is anything but. It's a flawed but relentlessly absorbing character study that keeps the suspense flowing until the end. There's literally not a dull moment. The exquisite Elisha Cuthbert, Canada's answer to Marilyn Monroe, gives a strong performance as a high school honors student who develops an addiction to gambling. The movie is anything but a case study, though: it's almost a worse-case scenario of just how much trouble teenage girls are capable of getting into, almost a cross between "thirteen" and "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me." Though not as troubled, Cuthbert's character does bear a certain resemblance to the late lamented Laura Palmer as played by Sheryl Lee. She's a gorgeous high school girl who goes to a school where all the girls are gorgeous . . . literally! There's not a single ugly girl or even a respectable plain Jane on site! This is a high school where everybody is rich, good-looking, and spends all their money on football pools and poker. Besides Ms. Cuthbert, my favorite was Charlotte Sullivan as the decadent rich girl whose older brother becomes the heroine's partner in crime. All Cuthbert wants to do is earn money for a post-graduation trip to Europe with her BFF, but what starts with scratch-offs rapidly escalates into football pools, poker, after-hour casinos run by Asian gangsters featuring truly bad lounge singers, drugs, pornography, and the burglarizing of her own house. Cuthbert and Sherry Miller (as her mom) won the Canadian equivalent of Emmys, but the whole cast is excellent. This film is so melodramatic and over-the-top as to defy plausibility, but its relentlessly grim tone at least has the virtue of making viewers feel better about their own boring lives. As teenage bad-girl movies go, this one is one of the best, and is miles above such pathetic Hollywood drivel as "Freeway," despite the latter having Reese Witherspoon as its star.

I just saw this movie yesterday and I've been wanting to see it for a long time now. I didn't have any high expectations since lots of made-for-tv movies are lame, but this movie was really good. The story line was great and extremely dark. The most brilliant part is the acting. Elisha Cuthbert is simply amazing in this movie. I haven't seen her on anything else than '24' where she also does a great job, but she is so fantastic in this movie. Also the other actors and actresses are doing a really excellent job. I've never heard anything about teenagers gambling and this movie left me thinking if this really exist and how horrible it is. The scene in the end with Blair, his wife and Katlin is so dark and deep and it's so well performed by Elisha. If one of your tv-channels are showing this movie then it's a must see. I'll give it a 9,5 out of 10...

i watched this programme from start to finish i think its good acting but the plot line is quite scary actually at the end it was scary when katlin couldn't pay the money . what they did to katlin was scary and it's not like other movies/programmes.the acting was good so i give it a 10

Great made-for-TV fun. A little edgier than your typical Lifetime fare and not nearly as cheesy (but cheesy enough to satisfy that cheese-jones). More realistic high school setting than one usually sees in these things, and the actors actually looked the ages they were supposed to portray. Good performances, good writing, and gotta love the not-so-happy ending.