Like some of his best roles, Bob Odenkirk plays the unlikeable but relatable lead in titular Lucky Hank. He’s a celebrated writer, but hasn’t written for years. He’s the head of the literary department, but works for an underfunded college in the middle of nowhere. He’s constantly judging other people’s lives while hating his own, no matter how good it seems to outsiders. In other words, he’s a smart fool who gets in the way of his own success and happiness, and with the right actor (which Odenkirk most certainly is), those types are always fun to watch. Bleak and dry, but fun nonetheless. And thankfully, despite what the title suggests, Lucky Hank isn’t a sole character study but a wonderfully packed ensemble dramedy. We’re just as privy to Hank’s life as we are to his academic colleagues, students, and family, who all speak to the realness of working in academic spaces.
Synopsis
A mid-life crisis tale about the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.
Storyline
At Railton College, the grumpy head of the literary department balances his personal and professional lives while going through a mid-life crisis.
TLDR
All you need to know is a fictional version of the universally beloved author George Saunders makes an appearance at one point, but somehow even Hank finds many faults in him.
What stands out
It’s nice to see literary academics, people usually considered calm, cultured, and composed, suffer the same dirty, silly, ridiculous things we’re all forced to cope with every day. No one is beyond cleaning pee on the floor, for instance, or crippling imposter syndrome but it’s always comforting to know others go through it too!