Movie Review: 'Hard Luck Love Song'

Singer Albert King once sang “If it wasn’t for Bad Luck, I would not have no luck at all” in his legendary song Born Under a Bad Sign (1968). That poetic and poignant lament perfectly suits the protagonist of the drama, Hard Luck Love Song. Jesse, played by Michael Dorman, has more than his share of bad luck but much of it is his own fault. Working as a pool hustler in Nashville, Tennessee is not the safest or smartest activity. Hustling pool tends to leave a bad taste in the mouth of those who are subject to the hustle and thus Jesse often finds himself in a bad way.

Jesse is a lonely soul who dreamed of being a Nashville songwriter. Sadly, a reliance on drugs and alcohol and his unending dedication to finding trouble wherever he goes has left Jesse destitute and floating from one seedy motel room to another. It’s been a while since he’s been to Nashville and the return has a purpose. Nashville was the last place where Jesse saw Carla (Sophia Bush), aka the one who got away. Carla now works as a sex worker with an ad in a local publication that is familiar to Jesse.

Jesse calls Carla to come over and help him celebrate. Jesse has just hustled some pool for a prize of a sizable amount of cash off of a local tough guy, Rollo, played by Dermot Mulroney. Jesse narrowly escaped the situation with his cash and his life intact after Rollo’s goons tried to force him into a rematch that Rollo was likely to win by any means necessary. Naturally, this plot will recur in the final act of Hard Luck Love Song.

But the meat of Hard Luck Love Song is not about Jesse’s scheming or hiding from bad guys, it’s about Jesse and Carla and their complicated relationship. Once Carla arrives the two old flames reignite over large amounts of alcohol and cocaine. The good times don’t last however as a Police Officer investigating a noise complaint leads to an argument between the former lovers. Each goes for the jugular in this war of words with Jesse angrily calling Carla a whore and Carla calling out Jesse’s hypocrisy over his past time spent in prison and how he repeatedly broke her heart over the years.

This portion of Hard Luck Love Song is raw and real and the emotions at play are rich and fleshed out. Co-writer and director Justin Corsbie smartly layers in Jesse’s backstory while lingering in his loneliness. The early portion of Hard Luck Love Song is a quiet and soulful meditation on Jesse’s listless, wandering existence. Through the lovely performance of Michael Dorman we get a strong sense of Jesse’s personal exile, his deeply held desire to connect with anyone, and his forlorn sense of emptiness and resignation.

Then we watch Jesse come to life in all the wrong ways as he invites Carla over, they share alcohol, drugs and nostalgic memories of youth. There is a constantly sinking sense in these brief scenes that we know this moment of joy cannot last and that while drugs and alcohol can be devices for great pleasure, they are an awful hiding place for Jesse and Carla. Drugs and alcohol for these two troubled people are like a very long fuse slowly burning its way toward dynamite and an explosion of long simmering resentment and recriminations.

The Dermot Mulroney character in Hard Luck Love Song is rather functional, a plot mechanic, but a very good plot mechanic. The looming threat of Rollo’s revenge is touched on in several small visual details throughout the second and start of the third act of Hard Luck Love Song, subtle reminders that no matter how things go between Jesse and Carla, there is another shoe ready to drop and throw another dramatic complication into Jesse’s continuing string of bad luck and bad choices.

I won’t spoil the ending but I will say that I feel the ending is deserved, well earned by a well told story. Hard Luck Love Song is sad and poignant but never dull. Jesse is an exceedingly interesting character and Michael Dorman's lived in performance is outstanding. We've seen his kind of screw up in movies before, but Dorman manages to be both self destructive and sensitive, he's someone you perhaps should not feel sorry for and yet you can't stop yourself from feeling for him. His soul sickness is palpable and you are likely recognize a little of yourself in Jesse's desire for a connection, his longing for a past that is not as rosy as he remembers it, and even in his self destructive tendencies which will be familiar from either your own life experience or someone you know. For me, Jesse reminded me of long lost friends who pop up in life in unexpected moments and always leave me wondering where they are going.

The love story between Jesse and Carla is a poignant and fleeting moment. It's a lovely and layered romance of the past and just as compelling as a romance doomed by their respective emotional shortcomings. Sophia Bush isn't given as much to work with as Michal Dorman is but she still manages to be his equal in every way. Carla, despite the clear chaos of her own life, appears more together and steady than Jesse but don't expect her to rescue him. Carla is no pushover, she's no prize for a man trying to overcome his demons, she's her own woman with her own demons. She and Jesse have chemistry and they know how to have a good time together but the water under the bridge here is likely more than any relationship could overcome.

It should come as no surprise to fans of singer-songwriter Todd Snider, that the movie is a beautifully poignant and sad love story, it's based on a Todd Snider song. The story of Hard Luck Love Song is based on a Todd Snider song, Just Like Old Times. Snider plays over the end credits of the movie and fans of his soulful, longing and ingenious musical poetry will be captivated. The movie has the feel of a Todd Snider song, bittersweet, lonely, lovely and quietly passionate. Todd Snider fans will not want to miss this movie.

Hard Luck Love Song is arriving in limited theatrical release on October 15th, 2021 and features terrific cameo appearances by towering cultural icons of differing but equally unique reputation, hip legend Rza and the one and only Eric Roberts. Roberts and Rza memorably join the final minutes of Hard Luck Love Song and each adds a wonderfully unique and welcome breath of unexpected fresh air.