Stanton interprets Lucky, a man of simple life rhythm, to whom every day is like a copy, with small daily rituals. He exercises every morning while his cigarette burns, drinks milk, dresses exactly the same as every day and walks to town. There, be sure to visit the local restaurant, local bar and shop where you are supplied with cigars and milk for the next day. In the evening, he watches his favorite quizzes and calls his friend, to whom he confides his thoughts, before going to bed.
In time, Lucky became a living legend of the place, although no one knows why he bears that nickname. He is the type of person who does not speak often, but when he does, there is a reason for it. His voice offers advice, regardless of whether someone needs it, but everyone is ready to listen to him. Wherever he appears, they greet him with a smile, and every bar where he appears gets a dose of authenticity. Depending on the mood, Lucky either addresses everyone in the room or is practically imperceptible, leaning against the bar or fitting into the background of the booth where he is sitting.
The screenwriters probably easily got the inspiration to write a character like this, because everyone who sat in a local bar must have seen a man like Lucky. The hard part of the job was to turn his daily routine without too much story into a narrative that speaks more about himself than about the life he lives. The film does not engage in too much philosophizing, but it shows very nicely how life becomes a routine without our observation and how we deal with the inevitability of death. Our hero has obligations that keep him active and, no matter how trivial those obligations seem to us, they are quite enough reason for him to get out of bed in the morning and fight for another day.
As I mentioned, there is no clear difference between Stanton’s acting and Stanton himself – we can’t determine where Stanton stops and where the written character begins. It is easy to think that the actor simply appeared in front of the camera. He provides his character with small but striking details that are reflected on his face or his movements, making him human. Since we rarely know anything from the personal life of a character actor, it may be that Lucky’s biography is similar to Stanton’s. In any case, his last role was as if created for him.
John Carroll Lynch, another respected character actor, is signing his debut directorial work, in which he deals with a character he knew how to interpret. One of the reasons for watching this film is certainly the appearance of David Lynch in the role of the eccentric Howard, who mourns because his turtle ran away from home. Lucky is not a believer and cannot do anything to improve his health, so he has to accept what awaits him – as we look at the locations of the town without him, we realize that with his departure, nothing is the same anymore.
