Mum's Monday: Jackie Collins' Lucky Chances Adaptation of the Books

Starring Nicollette Sheridan as Lucky Santangelo

The DVD and books tell the story of the Santangelo family, Lucky, feisty daughter of Gino and Maria. Gino’s a lady’s man who, although is dealing alcohol during the prohibition, wants to keep is name clean and not have anything to do with drugs and prostitution. Dario is Gino’s younger son; he doesn’t want to go into the hotel business, he wants to venture into the art world. Maria, Gino’s young wife is a determined character, who knows exactly what she wants. Those are the four main members of the Santangelo family, but Gino has another son, Steven, whose mother is Carrie, who is easily lead but she turns her life around after marrying Bernard Dimes.

The story follows Gino and his family from New York to Las Vegas, via Los Angeles and Greece, dealing in alcohol during the prohibition to getting an investment in the hotel business. Along the way, investments fall through, characters are killed off, and enemies are made, one in the form of Enzio, who started out friends with Gino, but went into the drugs and prostitution business, and killed Maria and Dario, eventually being shot by Lucky.

The character development is slow but gradual, borderline consistent in some parts of the story. The most notable developed character is Carrie, who goes from being controlled and drugged by WhiteJack, to being Bernard Dimes personal assistant, eventually his wife, and then recreating herself as an author as an African Princess. Lucky, being the main character, doesn’t develop as much as Carrie, but is notable for going from being expelled from school, and having the decision to marry someone at seventeen made for her, to building hotels with the business that Gino built, but she remains and has always been feisty, and knew her own mind, even using the unwanted marriage to her own advantage.

The story is told through 9 books, and the DVD is an adaptation of the first two books, “Changes”, and “Lucky”, appropriately titled, “Lucky Changes”.

Apart from hair colours being portrayed as blonde in the books and dark brown in the film, the DVDs follows the books almost to the letter. I would recommend these as it is doesn’t go overboard with the story – keeping it light-hearted and consistent to the books. The DVD captures the personality of the books well, exploring the development and the many complications and tragedies that rises throughout the story.