As Luck Would Have It
As Luck Would Have It
| 24 April 2012 (USA)
As Luck Would Have It Trailers

Roberto is an unemployed publicist who achieved success when he thought of a famous slogan: "Coca-Cola, the spark of life." Now he is a desperate man, trying to remember the happy days, back to the hotel where he spent the honeymoon with his wife. However, instead of the hotel, he finds a museum built around the Roman theater in the city. While walking through the ruins, he has an accident, an iron rod sticks into his head and leaves him completely paralyzed. If he tries to move he would die. Roberto becomes the focus of the media, which will change his life ...

Reviews
Alicia

I love this movie so much

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Fluentiama

Perfect cast and a good story

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Glimmerubro

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

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Roxie

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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valis1949

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT (dir. Álex de la Iglesia) A weak Spanish satirical comedy about an unemployed advertising executive who suffers a horrific accident in which he falls at a construction site and is pierced through the skull by a piece of iron rebar, yet remains conscious during the entire ordeal. In the process of getting help he engages the service of a publicity agent, and attempts to exploit the situation for all it's worth. The film tries to make a philosophical statement about the nature of a society that would encourage or support such self-serving behavior, but the film doesn't take it far enough. This could have really been a powerful drama or a scathing black comedy, but just came off as a lackluster effort.

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Mozjoukine

Gangbusters De la Iglesia movie which defies expectations of taste and form to become extraordinarily involving. Working from a script by a Hollywood writer, who did Stallone and Van Damme movies and mixing elements we recognize from work like NIGHT & the CITY and DEATH of a SALESMAN, we end up with something that it would be hard to imagine anyone else trying. De La Iglesia is a much better craftsman than Pedro Almodovar to whom he's frequently adversely compared. He brings a feeling of scale to what is a quite intimate subject, a blaring score, the Cartegena Roman circus setting, broad media and promotion satire and particularly a full blooded performance from Hayek, who wins over the audience in her first scene, encouraging Mota not to think of himself as a failure by saying "Look what a hot wife you have!"As Mota finds himself life imperiled, with a steel spike in his head, the film sneaks up on the spectator till the scene between Hayek and Bang and her last gesture become unexpectedly moving. The critical response and non response to De Iglesia's movies continues to amaze me.Throw in another of Santo Segura's endorsement walk-ons - like GROWN UPS.

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isaiasvalbuena

Mmmm , What can I say I'm huge fan of Alex de la Iglesia and love in some way almost every film he has made , some more than others of course but at this moment , I was expecting something amazing ; more even after seeing his last film beautifully crafted and visually stunning with an over the top ending but that's something I have learn to accept and even like on his films , I'm talking about The Last Circus (la balada Triste de la Trompeta) after that one , As Luck Would Have It comes as a big disappointment sadly.The direction is nice nothing you haven't seem before ,the acting is good, but not great, hence to the story line and the script and opposite to the Goyas (something like the Oscars in Spain) I think Salma Hayek in that role seems awkward and out of place.In general an entertaining flick but very beneath the genius of Alex de la Iglesia.

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svendsenfilm

Álex de la Iglesia's "As Luck Would Have It" features, in supporting roles, Salma Hayek and Carolina Bang, two of the most ravishing and talented Spanish-language actresses to ever grace the screen. Most viewers are well aware of Ms. Hayek, who has aged gracefully into Hollywood's demeaning mother-ghetto for actresses over the age of 35. Few know of Ms. Bang, who was the centerpiece of de la Iglesia's last film, the criminally-insane "The Last Circus." Both command the screen with old school Hollywood glamour and mature sexuality, and yet neither manages to obscure the machinations of de la Iglesia's sharp media satire. This, as Queen once sang long ago, is a kind of magic.Jose Mota is Roberto, a one-time ad exec who hasn't had success in many moons. Unbeknownst to his supportive wife, the couple are in dire financial straits, Roberto long living off the reputation gained from an old Coca Cola slogan. Reduced to begging and groveling at his former bosses' knees, Roberto soon realizes he has no job prospects. The cosmic joke of the film, unspoken, seems to be that Roberto seemingly bottomed out without a natural talent for advertising, and whatever reputation he has garnered was a fluke. The irony, of course, is that these callous suits lack what the enterprising Roberto brings to the table, courtesy of his Coke tagline: "the spark of life."Despondent, Roberto flees to the location of his honeymoon with his wife, where one absent- minded misstep lands him on his back, seriously injured but conscious. Lying on his back, Roberto maintains his motor skills, but he cannot move. He is impaled, a sharp nail sticking out from the ground, embedded in his head. Cops descend, but none dare to pry him loose, until medics provide a diagnosis: they could remove Roberto from the nail, but if he is pried loose in the wrong direction, he will die. The story of Roberto's misfortunate circulates, now attached to the circumstances. Soon, a media circus erupts over his captive state, reports circulating that his career had been failing and that he may have attempted suicide. The location de la Iglesia picks is not unintentional: all parties involved realize he's fallen on somewhat sacred ground, a landmark of sorts where Roberto's freedom could involve desecrating ancient ground. From Roberto's perspective, as we see various onlookers and media outlets observe, the area he occupies is shaped very much like ancient Coliseum bleachers. He has become the star of his own show, the story of his death, Ancient Rome-style. Wife Luisa (Hayek) eventually descends, though she is soon swarmed by the vultures of the press (among them Ms. Bang). As Roberto moves in and out of lucidity, they fight over exclusive access both to an interview with him or her. The ghoulish lengths they'll go to procure official footage and soundbites overwhelms Luisa: one reporter openly muses on a much higher cost for an interview if he were to die.De la Iglesia's setup hearkens back to "Ace In The Hole" but with a much more humanist bent: with his life on the line, Roberto immediately starts thinking dollar signs, knowing the cynicism of the media can be exploited to finally give he and his wife the life that will please her. But Luisa is the film's heart, and this attitude pierces her, as she fights against the reporters' obvious interest in Roberto's possible death. De la Iglesia, in the middle of what some may consider a career-long roll, continues his commitment to stark, realistic humanity in heightened, blackly comic situations. The absurdity of Roberto's predicament, while handled with good humor, is played with an entirely straight face -- his argument as to whether Brad Pitt or George Clooney in a movie adaptation is as much a product of his pop culture cynicism as it is about his hopeful recontextualization of this unlucky scenario. There may be no boogeyman in sight, but de la Iglesia uses Hitchcockian music cues and camera angles to emphasize the morbidity of Roberto constantly being moments away from death, with surrounding onlookers subtly rooting for his demise. Mordantly funny and sharp as a razor, "As Luck Would Have It" is one of the treasures of the Tribeca Film Festival.

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