As Luck Would Have It

Released Feb 1, 2013

1h 38m

Comedy

Drama

List

38%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

48%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

After suffering a freak accident, an unemployed ad man (José Mota) hires an agent to help him turn his newfound fame into fortune, but his faithful wife (Salma Hayek) worries just how far he'll go to provide for his family.

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With hat in hand, Roberto(Jose Mota) goes to a friend and former colleague in the advertising business desperately looking for work. Sadly, all he comes away with is an offer for a scholarship offer for his son and finds another friend too busy playing video games to see him. In order to cheer himself up, he goes to the hotel in Cartagena where he and his wife Luisa(Salma Hayek) spent their honeymoon. Instead, he finds a historical dig underway, followed by a tragic accident... Even though there might be other similar sounding movies, "As Luck Would Have It" still manages to claim its own ground with just the right mix of caustic satire and heart, including some of Salma Hayek's best work. That ground becomes increasingly important once you realize it can stand for a variety of things. As a spectacular Roman amphitheatre, it might seem obvious but then there is the running thread of an internal criticism of current day Spain that either imports everything or where everybody is leaving. That's not to mention the more general criticism against voluntarily surrendering one's privacy.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent film, full of tension, some comedy, much honesty about how we really are under pressure and how people can change from moment to moment, depending on the circumstances confronting them. A very special film.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I found this to be something of an odd film. The humour is dark and the pretensions of the film are handled in a rather ham-fisted manner. Yet it has a solid recognisable message at its core and left an indelible impression upon its conclusion.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best little film you have never heard of! I saw it again tonight for the 3rd time and it just keeps on getting better and better with each viewing! It evokes strong emotions and opinions within me! I'm angered by the media's attachment to gruesome events to raise their ratings on tv! Perhaps my anger has been misplaced! It should be visited upon us the viewers who reward tv stations for their blood thirsty sensationalism by turning them on in the first place, thus creating the demand! I think everyone can relate to Roberto's (José Mota) situation! He lost more than just a job, he lost his dignity! He knows he'll never get another job because he's a dinosaur among the youthful upstarts entering his field! He feels like he failed his family because he can't support them the way he feels they deserve! If only he could see money isn't everything! That to his family he was a husband and father first and foremost! They never loved him more or loved him less depending on what he earned... they simply loved him unconditionally! Then again in our society you ARE judge by what you earn and ARE treated accordingly! So his fears are VERY real! Was he wrong for trying to provide for his family... that's a question you will have to answer yourself! Personally I can forgive Roberto for his was a decision based on love for his family, it was from the heart! I'm more concerned about any aspect of society that benefits from the pain and suffering of others! EX: Media - Wallstreet! I think it's pretty safe to say we all fell in love with Luisa (Salma Hayek) for the understanding and exceptional love she had for her husband and for being the strong lioness protecting those she loved with great ferocity! It's a fabulous dark satire you won't soon forget! P.S. It's Handkerchief Worthy!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Infantil la manera como trata a sus personajes en medio de algo tan denso. No encaja la historia y pareciera que tratase de narrar más bien una fábula. La actuación de Salma es triste, como casi siempre, y el resto no hacen mucho más, entre ellos el muy desmejorado Santiago Segura. Poco interesante y un tanto sosa.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Para mi gusto de lo mejor de la cartelera esta semana, por lo menos acÃ¡ en Tierras cajetosas... Lleven paÃ±uelos !

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

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Alex de la Iglesia

Director

José Mota

Roberto Gómez

Salma Hayek

Luisa

Manuel Tallafé

Claudio

Blanca Portillo

Mercedes

Juan Luis Galiardo

Alcalde

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Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Combines lecture, farce and soapy sentiment in a single misshapen package.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 4, 2013

Full Review

Joe Neumaier

New York Daily News

This dark satire may be hard to watch at times, but its' queasy mix of satire and tough love should be seen for how black comedy can be done outside the U.S.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 31, 2013

Full Review

Jonathan Kiefer

Village Voice

Family is the truest wealth, insists a strenuous orchestral score, but neither Feldman nor Iglesia seems to buy it, so how can we?

Jan 29, 2013

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

A great looking film, its ancient Roman amphitheater a perfect stage for its tragicomic contents. Unfortunately, it's completely devoid of sparks of any kind.

Aug 7, 2019

Full Review

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

MUBI

Without de la Iglesia's rough edges, the film can't really work as a satire; instead, it has to make do with being a well-made, eccentric comic melodrama-which, frankly, isn't all that bad.

Jan 9, 2018

Full Review

Martin Tsai

Critic's Notebook

But for some unbeknownst reason, in "As Luck Would Have It" the idea seems half-baked; and Mr. de la Iglesia is merely phoning it in.

Oct 7, 2015

Full Review

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Synopsis

After suffering a freak accident, an unemployed ad man (José Mota) hires an agent to help him turn his newfound fame into fortune, but his faithful wife (Salma Hayek) worries just how far he'll go to provide for his family.

Director: Alex de la Iglesia
Producer: Randy Feldman, Jenette Kahn, Géraldine Polveroni, Adam Richman
Screenwriter: Randy Feldman
Distributor: IFC Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 1, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 29, 2017
Runtime: 1h 38m

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