“Lucky You”

Utah Utes running back Troy McCormick (21) rushes the ball against the Colorado State Rams during the first half of the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)

Hold ’em? Or hold her?

That is the question for "Lucky You’s" resident poker ace, Huck Cheever.

A charming "blaster" for whom the sky’s the limit — as long as he gambling with chips — Huck holds back when there’s something more than money at risk.

His heart, for example.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. On second thought, don’t bother. Everybody’s heard this one before.

But you can always bet on certain filmmakers — and "Lucky You’s" Curtis Hanson is one of them.

Even with a script that threatens to collapse under the weight of its creaky life’s-a-poker-game metaphors, Hanson finds a way to breathe some fresh air into the potentially stale proceedings.

Especially for lucky Las Vegans, who finally get to see a movie that reflects the contrasts between longtime locals and the starry-eyed newcomers in their midst.

Huck (dramatic powerhouse Eric Bana, trying hard not to try too hard) embodies the seen-it-all, boom-and-bust mentality of the veteran gambler, somebody who’ll bet on anything, anytime, anywhere.

Huck learned from a master: his estranged father L.C. (Robert Duvall, in irresistibly blustery form), a two-time World Series of Poker champ who’s still not ready to give up the limelight.

But at least L.C. knows how to escape the poker room from time to time — something that Huck’s got to learn.

And maybe, at long last, he’s found the right teacher: Billie Offer (winsome Drew Barrymore), a wannabe singer newly arrived from Bakersfield, Calif.

Sympathetic, sincere, honest to a fault, Billie’s exactly the kind of sweetheart Huck needs. Assuming he’s ready to bring the same full-tilt intensity to his love life that he does to his gambling.

Huck and Billie’s wary relationship is supposed to be the heart of "Lucky You." But Billie’s no competition for Huck’s (and the movie’s) first love: poker.

Throughout the movie (written by Hanson and "Forrest Gump" Oscar-winner Eric Roth), the central story lines — Huck and Billie’s romance, Huck and L.C.’s inevitable showdown at the World Series of Poker — rumble along parallel tracks.

Yet the movie’s poker plot proves far more forceful that the romance, which feels obligatory and routine.

Every time Huck and Billie have one of their philosophical debates about life and What It All Means, "Lucky You" slogs to a crawl. Yet there’s a welcome blast of energy whenever the action shifts to the poker table — or elsewhere in town, as Huck and his colorful casino pals pursue a variety of wacky, only-in-Vegas proposition bets.

("Lucky You" also is one of the few made-in-Vegas movies that actually attempts to capture local life away from the Strip, contrasting Summerlin’s suburban gleam with the weatherbeaten grit of Las Vegas’ older neighborhoods.)

The movie would have been more coherent (and more compelling) if it had sidestepped the Huck-Billie romance entirely and concentrated instead on the conflict between L.C. and Huck: the old gunslinger facing the young upstart determined to find out who’s really the fastest draw.

As it stands, "Lucky You" plays like a series of loosely connected incidents — or, if you prefer, a series of poker hands, some of which you hold, some of which you fold.

Throughout, Hanson displays his customary flair for striking atmosphere and assembling spirited supporting casts; such nimble performers as Jean Smart, Charles Martin Smith, Debra Messing (in a truncated role as Billie’s protective older sister) and Robert Downey Jr. (hilariously manic as a one-man boiler room operator) provide vivid character sketches.

Often, they’re more vivid than Huck and Billie. Then again, they don’t have to handle any of the movie’s heavy lifting. There’s just one problem: a movie like "Lucky You" really shouldn’t have this much heavy lifting.