Lucky Break

Peter Cattaneo, the man responsible for unleashing the accursed Full Monty onto our poor undeserving world, has now struck again. Lucky Break is a feelgood prison movie (??) so chirpy it verges on the irritating.

It’s about the hilarious caperings of a gang of inmates in a maximum-security prison, led by busted-in-the-act bank robber Hans (Nesbitt) who yearns to escape the place and has hatched a cunning plan to do so. This involves taking advantage of the prison governor’s passion for musicals: the doddery old soul intends to stage a production of the Lord Admiral Nelson musical Nelson! in the only wing of the prison from which it’s possible to escape.

From here on in, it all really depends on whether or not you find the notion of (alleged) hardcases doing panto inherently hilarious. The rather ingratiating Nesbitt (Cold Feet) tries so hard to make his central role a tour de force of droll wit and blarney charm that, with all the best will in the world, you end up gnashing your teeth at the screen in annoyance and pining for the hard edge of a John Hannah. Olivia Williams (Rushmore) is throughly wasted in a lazily-written love-interest role, Timothy Spall just regurgitates his usual shtick, and the musical numbers themselves become pretty wearing long before the final curtain.