Great elements don’t necessarily a great series make, though. Pretty good, yes; but great, no - or at least not great in that Sunday-night way HBO has led people to take for granted.
Hoffman plays Ace Bernstein, a mob guy who has just served three years in prison for cocaine possession. The drugs were not his. They belonged to a business “associate’’ (Michael Gambon). Ace took the rap for him - which is to say, he’s that much-beloved figure among scriptwriters, the noble gangster.
Ace has a noble sidekick, too. Gus Demitriou (Dennis Farina) does triple duty as driver, bodyguard, and confidant. “I don’t trust anyone, not even myself,’’ Ace tells him. “You I give a pass.’’ A good line, it’s a better example (because tighter and tamer) of the sort of sub-Tarantino dialogue characters in “Luck’’ tend to rely on. They talk tough and colorful and profane (f-bombs proliferate like road apples), but minus that verbal torque of Tarantino’s. Without it, much of the gab seems slightly leaden and more than slightly phony.
Gus also serves as Ace’s frontman in owning a champion thoroughbred. As a convicted felon, Ace is forbidden any involvement in horse racing. Hoffman and Farina’s Jeff-and-Mutt routine is the spine of the series. Their relationship increasingly defies belief - they even share the same luxury apartment - but it is entertaining.
The relationship is not as implausible as that of the four racetrack habitues (Kevin Dunn, Jason Gedrick, Ian Hart, Ritchie Coster) who buy a thoroughbred after winning a $2.6 million Pick Six bet. Their horse and Ace’s share the same trainer (John Ortiz), who’s in a stormy romantic relationship with the track veterinarian (Jill Hennessy). Women don’t fare well in “Luck.’’ Hennessy mainly stands around looking stone-faced. Kerry Condon brings an elfin charm to the role of an Irish exercise girl seeking to become a jockey, but too often she’s reduced to just acting with her brogue.
