As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, many hope that luck is the air. For some, it might be. For others, not so much.
This is certainly the case in film, where a character's luck is sometimes criticized as a cop-out by the film's writers. But, like in real life, sometimes people are just plain lucky or unlucky.
Here’s a list of seven great films that portray some of the luckiest and unluckiest people in cinema history.
Lucky: Walter Mitty, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
The titular character in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (Ben Stiller) finds himself extraordinarily lucky in this uplifting film also directed by Stiller.
After finding out that an important photo for the last issue of LIFE Magazine has gone missing, Walter must hunt down photojournalist Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn).
Across his journey, much of the clues to Sean’s location come to him completely by chance. Even luckier than just the sum of these lucky moments, Walter finally feels fulfilled as he lives out the adventures he’d always daydreamed of.
Unlucky: Sam Lowry, “Brazil”
The bleak, dystopian world of Terry Gilliam’s misleadingly named “Brazil” is not one that anyone would consider themselves lucky to inhabit, but especially unlucky is protagonist Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce).
Initially only wanting his air conditioning repaired, Sam finds himself constantly surrounded by ridiculous terrorist attacks and filling out government forms for every minor thing that pops up. One thing leads to another and Sam is eventually on the run from the government itself.
“Brazil"'s satiric bureaucracy is one of the most unique and comedic settings of the 1980s, and the viewer can’t help but feel bad for the misfortune of all those inhabiting its world, but especially Sam.
Lucky: Norville Barnes, “The Hudsucker Proxy”
A lesser known gem within the Coen brothers’ catalogue, "The Hudsucker Proxy" follows country boy Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) as he seeks out his fortune in 1958 New York City.
Despite being completely naive and inept, Norville finds success almost immediately by being chosen as CEO as part of a scheme by board member Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) to tank the company’s stock.
Initially failing as he was supposed to, Norville again is bailed out by complete chance as one of his inventions skyrockets in popularity, foiling Sidney’s plan and making Norville seem like a business genius. While he does have some smart ideas, Norville’s naivety is repeatedly bailed out by pure luck and chance in this eccentrically funny film.
Unlucky: Paul Hackett, “After Hours”
In Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours,” Paul Hackett's (Griffin Dunne) nightmare of a New York evening begins with his cab fare flying out the window. It only gets worse from there, as everything that could go wrong does go wrong.
The entire film takes place entirely in one night, with Paul only trying to make his way home. Eventually, he becomes the subject of a neighborhood-wide manhunt after he is mistakenly called a burglar and has to hide out from the angry mob.
“After Hours” is as stressful as it is fun, with the stakes of Paul’s misfortune getting higher and more ridiculous as the film progresses.
Lucky: James Bond, “Casino Royale”
The first film of the James Bond series to star Daniel Craig, “Casino Royale” follows Bond as he learns of and attempts to catch terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Bond’s luck in this film culminates at the famous poker scene, facing off against Le Chiffre in an extremely high stakes game of Texas Hold’em.
Bond’s winning hand is a straight flush, the second-best poker hand which has an approximately 3500-1 chance of appearing. This suspenseful scene and the exciting action surrounding it form a great addition to the long running Bond franchise.
Lucky: Frank Abagnale, “Catch Me If You Can”
Based on the almost entirely fabricated life story of conman and airline pilot Frank Abagnale Jr., “Catch Me If You Can” stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks as Abagnale and FBI agent Carl Hanratty, respectively.
Throughout the film, Frank is able to con people across the world, getting bolder and bolder as he does so. While Frank definitely is skilled at lying and scamming, even the most skilled conman has to have some amount of luck to evade FBI agents and avoid their bluff being called over and over again.
Frank is the quintessential example of a film character relying on both luck and skill to do what he does in this exciting Steven Spielberg classic.
Unlucky: Almost Everyone, “Final Destination”
In “Final Destination,” almost every character in the film is killed in wildly unlucky ways. After the main characters miss a plane crash at the start it seems like this could be a lucky bunch. But, as the film progresses, the characters are reclaimed by death one by one.
Each death plays into the next, initially with Tod (Chad Donella) slipping and being choked to death to Terry (Amanda Detmer) getting run over by a bus while discussing plans. “Final Destination” is a grim, gory and fun ride with the ridiculous misfortunes of its victims put on display.
While the films on this list are all stylistically and sometimes thematically very different from one another, they all show characters at the mercy of the hand of fate.