I wouldn’t call her the unluckiest person in the world … I mean, you know there are babies born without brains, right? True, Sam (voice of Eva Noblezada) has aged out of her orphanage and seems to be a magnet for incidents and accidents. Yet, despite her humble origins, she seems happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. True bad luck tends to make one an Eeyore not a Pooh Bear, knowwhatI’msayin’?
Of course we don’t expect an animated heroine of a G-rated film to be quadriplegic or have an intense drug problem. Still, we are missing here a level of “mope” for what should be the world’s broodiest teen. Maybe that’s in another film.
After being booted from orphan central, Sam has a first day at work that most of us would call “typical,” but the film seems to think screwing up the first time out represents a lack of Luck. So be it. That night, she shares food with a stray black cat and suddenly discovers a “lucky” token and before you know it, Sam finds life’s buttered toast all falls dry-side-down. This lasts for about 12 hours until Sam inadvertently flushes the coin. Good one. She hunts the cat down only to discover it can talk and has the voice of Simon Pegg.
Most cats don’t sound like Simon Pegg. And having a cat sound like Simon Pegg instead of a cat? You still want to call this thing “lucky?”
So, you know, what do you do? She chases “Bob” to an imaginary realm where the creatures of good luck and bad luck bifurcate and go about their business of bestowing their gifts upon the world.
There’s a ton of bureaucracy in the Land of Luck. I wonder if they make butter, too. Huh. I’d have guessed the Land 
of Luck with leprechauns and dragons and horseshoes and black cats would take a fairly “devil-may-care” or “shit happens” approach to life; I mean, it’s pretty clear based on who is lucky and who is not that it’s all fairly random, no? But it turns out the Land of Luck has gatekeepers and governors and paranoia out the wazoo. How exactly is a human supposed to interact in a land where humans aren’t allowed, anyway?
Bottom line is Sam pretty much screws up the entire realm before the Keebler Elves figure out she doesn’t belong there … or that their plot is heavily derivative of Inside Out or Soul or any of a number of Pixar films which favor unseen fantastical worlds with arbitrary rules. I found this whole thing to be on the side of “trying too hard.” Luck aimed squarely at Pixar and came very close, but forgot the key element: personality. We care because we care, not because you’re magical. This is true from Gotham to Narnia. Luck has a wonderful message of self-acceptance, but I found it so indulged in the fantasy that it lost the non-fantastical part too-long and too-often. This is a decent watch for your kids, but I cannot recommend it for everybody.
Apple, in trying to make another Cars
Tried to tell us about the role of Luck because
Its presence, plain to see
Negates responsibility
And, sadly, it also limits stars
Rated G, 105 Minutes
Director: Peggy Holmes
Writer: Kiel Murray
Genre: Trying to pass for Pixar … failing
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Orphans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who can tell the difference between superficial and genuine bad luck
