Why Movie-Makers Love Introducing Lucky and Unlucky Characters

Think of a great movie and there are almost certainly some fantastic, well-rounded characters driving the story. Yet, you may wonder why some characters are introduced that are either incredibly lucky or very, very unlucky. The following movies are built around this concept for different reasons and show how different directors have decided to take a variety of approaches.

‘Just My Luck’ Swaps the Luck Around

2006’s Just My Luck stars Lindsay Lohan as the lucky Ashley Albright and Chris Pine as the unfortunate Jake Hardin. The twist in this film is that they kiss one night and that switches their luck around, with the luck switching back to the way it was when they kiss again later on. While it’s a light-hearted comedy that doesn’t go deep into the reasons for this happening, it raises the interesting question of whether having relentless good fortune in everyday life is as good as it sounds.

The idea of Lady Luck controlling our fate has been present in many cultures, with the Rota Fortunae an early type of wheel of fortune used to help people explain how the Gods determined our fate randomly. The spinning wheel remains an important element of games of chance like Spin Till You Win Roulette. This roulette game by Playtech features a virtual wheel and the player has to bet on the number they think it will land on. Roulette wheels are cleverly designed so that the house edge is the same on virtually all bets, meaning that it is always a random outcome that determines if you win or not.

‘Pure Luck’ Is About Using Bad Luck to Make Good Luck

1991’s Pure Luck has an excellent cast with Martin Short, Danny Glover and Sheila Kelley among the stars. It’s a remake by Australian director Nadia Tass of a French comedy called La Chèvre. Billed as a comedy crime mystery, it sees Valerie Highsmith (Kelley) land in Mexico and get hit by all sorts of bad luck before going missing. 

To try and counter this, her father is rather bizarrely advised to send the unluckiest person he knows to find her, on the basis that the two sets of bad luck will somehow cancel each other out. Unlucky accountant Eugene Proctor (Short) is the man sent to try and find her. As you can imagine, comedy capers ensue. Tass said that it was financially successful but not as satisfying as she would have liked it to be, as the director would have preferred to add more pathos.

‘It Could Happen to You’ Shows How a Couple Help Others After a Big Win

Nicholas Cage and Bridget Fonda star in this 1994 romantic comedy that’s loosely based on real-life events that took place in Dobbs Ferry in New York. Charlie Lang (Cage) doesn’t have enough money to tip friendly waitress Yvonne Biasi (Fonda) but says he’ll share the prize if his lottery ticket wins. 

Sure enough, the ticket wins and the movie then takes up through the changes in their lives and their relationship with each other due to this good fortune. Despite all the ups and downs, we see that they both remain kind and generous with or without money.

Why This Theme Will Remain Popular in Films

People might no longer believe in the Gods spinning a rota fortunae to determine what happens next to us, but the idea of how good luck and bad luck affect our lives and decisions will continue to fascinate us. These movies have shown that it’s a theme that can be tackled in various ways, from slapstick comedy scenes to romantic comedy and a hint of drama. 

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