I don’t have the Apple TV+ app, but my daughter does, so when she is out of town, I get to binge-watch a few great series. And I found one just for you.
Lucky
Lucky is a crime-thriller miniseries created by Jonathan Tropper for Apple TV+. It is loosely based on Marissa Stapley’s book. Reese Witherspoon and Cassie Pappas are among the producers of this series. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Annette Bening, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Clifton Collins Jr, and Drew Starkey.
The series revolves around a multimillion-dollar heist that has gone wrong. Lucky (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her husband Cary (Drew Starkey) have just pulled off a successful heist, but there is one little problem. After spending the night celebrating at a hotel, Lucky wakes up to find the money and her husband gone… and the FBI raiding the hotel, with Agent Billie Rand (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in the lead. Lucky escapes, but we learn that crime seems to run rampant in this family. Lucy’s father (Timothy Olyphant) is serving time for multiple crimes. Lucky’s husband’s mother, Priscella (Annette Bening), is a dangerous mob boss who just got out of prison…and that ten million bucks that went missing belongs to a very angry mob boss (William Fichtner) who wants his money returned.
The episodes that I’ve watched so far are packed with action and drama as Lucky tries to stay alive while avoiding a very vengeful mother-in-law and an FBI agent who won’t take no for an answer.
Conclusion
Lucky is a well-written, action-packed, nail-biting series, but it is the three characters: Lucky, Priscella and Agent Billie Rand that make this series a full-course dinner served with scoops full of adrenaline. Annette Bening is an excellent actress with five Academy Award nominations, two Tony Award nominations, and numerous Golden Globe and BAFTA recognitions. Annette Bening made her name in the 1990 film The Grifters. Bening not only conquered the stage but actor/ playboy Warren Beatty.
Bening’s Priscella is a ruthless, heartless mob boss. Her one and only evidence of human emotion is her son, Cary. I honestly don’t think any other actress would have been able to pull off the ferocity that Bening puts into the character of Priscella. But even the devil has a checkmate, and it comes in the form of Anya Taylor-Joy’s Lucky.
I first learned about Anya Taylor-Joy with the miniseries, The Queen’s Gambit. Her performance was so impressive that I became an instant fan, and my loyalty grew after watching her in the horror film The Menu. Besides being the main character in Lucky, Anya Taylor-Joy is also one of the producers. What I have observed from watching Anya’s performances in the two aforementioned series and The Menu is that, whatever character she is playing, she is a powerhouse hidden beneath the guise of fragility. Her youthful, almost childlike features betray the warrior inside, and so she is the perfect balance between a powerful actress like Annette Bening and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
I do remember Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor somewhat from the series, True Blood, and definitely in the film, Men of Honor. Aunjanue brings a strong, persistent force to her character, Agent Billie Rand. The relationship between Lucky and her father, along with the drama between Priscella and Lucky, is perfectly held in check by Aunjanue’s Agent Billie Rand’s almost robotic determination to capture Lucky. But what makes Aunjanue’s character important in every scene is that she somehow continues to protect Lucky from both Priscella and Fichtner as she tries to solve the case.
I highly recommend that you watch this series.
