Luck
HBO | Release Date: December 11, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York PostLinda StasiJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: With an impossibly good cast, writing so spot-on it's poetic, and slow-build stories, I, for one, was left wanting more--even after watching the entire season. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: "Deadwood" fans already know that Milch doesn't make it easy for viewers to get a purchase on his series, but for those willing to do the work, Luck, pays off. Read full review
100
NewsdayVerne GayJan 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: There are three excellent reasons--Milch, Mann and Hoffman--why your faith will be rewarded. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerJan 30, 2012
Season 1 Review: I suspect Luck will need its own kind of good fortune to persuade HBO Subscribers to get on its wavelength--to go with the undulating rhythm of its storytelling. But it's worth the effort. [3/10 Feb 2012, p.104]
91
HitfixAlan SepinwallJan 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's clear and engaging and moving to this novice. Read full review
88
Slant MagazinePhillip MaciakJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: Asking viewers to simply look his characters in the eye, Milch has created an infuriatingly but genuinely moving drama. Read full review
88
People WeeklyTom GliattoJan 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck is a true original, a show with a tone like no other. [30 Jan 2012, p.43]
83
Uncle BarkyEd BarkJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: You should give Luck a chance to slowly pay off. It proudly depicts a gritty/picturesque world that the ABC Family channel's Wildfire only airbrushed during its 2005-08 run. Read full review
83
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJan 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: With Milch holding the reins, Luck seems a lock for the winner's circle. Read full review
80
SalonRoger CatlinJan 31, 2012
Season 1 Review: What keeps these threads tight and advances the action is the input of Michael Mann, who directed the pilot and set the tone for the rest of the nine-episode first season. Read full review
80
TimeJames PoniewozikJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck too is far from perfect, but I found a lot to love in its rough edges. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: I've seen all nine episodes of Luck's first season and I still don't know how to place a bet, much less pick a winner. But when the carousel finally stopped turning, I couldn't wait to buy another ticket. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: Strong writing and acting ensure that we soon become so sensitive to the characters that we feel for them the way they feel for their horses. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanJan 23, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck is a smart and ambitious series that looks to truly pay off in the home stretch. Read full review
75
RedEyeCurt WagnerJan 30, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck is a sometimes confusing yet fascinating study of the colorful characters--the jockeys, trainers, owners, gamblers and railbirds--who populate horse-racing tracks. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck can be maddeningly inscrutable but it becomes less so over time. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoJan 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: There are great performances from Gedrick and Dunn as leaders of a gambling quartet, and good work all around. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenJan 30, 2012
Season 1 Review: Viewers who appreciate slow-moving stories set in gritty, somewhat sleazy environments with characters of questionable morals are most likely to be rewarded by betting on Luck. Read full review
70
PopMattersRoss LangagerJan 30, 2012
Season 1 Review: For these all-too-brief moments of sheer visceral exhilaration, all of the related backroom machinations, self-destructive manipulation, and blithe dishonesty of the characters seem completely justified. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: If you make it to the end, the payoff is sweeter for the suffering. In the meanwhile, enjoy each scene on its own merits, which are not inconsiderable. Read full review
70
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: The parts that do work possess the doom-laden yet strangely optimistic romanticism of Milch's best work. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: Pretty good, yes; but great, no--or at least not great in that Sunday-night way HBO has led people to take for granted. Read full review
63
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesChuck BarneyJan 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's a scattershot approach that ultimately undermines what is admirable about Luck, including some gorgeous photography. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: At this point, [it's] somewhere between a long shot and a lock. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: The plot is as stubbornly slow-burning as Hoffman's sharply reined-in performance and ultimately far less inspired. Read full review
60
Washington PostHank StueverJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck is suffused with brilliant acting and amazing scenes, but in a few unfortunate ways, it remains impenetrable almost until its last hour. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian LowryJan 23, 2012
Season 1 Review: Luck--for all its quirky exchanges and marquee performers--proves at best a photo finish as to whether it's worth the effort. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyJan 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: This nine-episode series is maddeningly and needlessly opaque, and so deferential to the rites and rituals of the track that the storytelling is labored and even joyless. Read full review
40
The New YorkerEmily NussbaumJan 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: When it comes to story, unfortunately, Luck is a drag. Read full review
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