LUCKY YOU — ** — Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall; rated PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity, violence).

As its title suggests, "Lucky You" takes a lot of chances, not the least of which is the unlikely pairing of Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore as a romantic couple.

But the film risks even more by focusing so heavily on poker, a trendy gambling sport that reached the pinnacle of its popularity a couple of years ago. (In all fairness, the film was shot a couple of years ago and has sat on the studio shelf for a while.)

If anything, there's too much focus here on the games and not enough on the central romance and characters, which undercuts both.

The film is set during the 2003 World Series of Poker event in Las Vegas, and follows Huck Cheever (Bana), a veteran gambler who's lost more than he's won.

He's hoping that winning the big event will turn his luck around. And it would give him something in common with his estranged father, L.C. Cheever (Robert Duvall), a veteran who holds two tournament titles.

It's a time when Huck needs to stay focused, yet he finds himself drawn to Billie Offer (Barrymore), a lounge singer who's attracted to Huck in spite of his character faults.

This is a film badly in need of an editor. Co-screenwriter/director Curtis Hanson falls in love with the numerous gambling scenes, which are pretty lengthy, and aren't that convincing or enthralling. Also, a supporting bit with Robert Downey Jr. may be amusing but is unnecessary.

And while poker fans may enjoy the brief cameos by such poker pros Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman and others, it's further padding for a movie that's already much too long.

The biggest deficit, though, may be the film's rather unlikable main character. Despite Bana's best efforts, we're not really interested in seeing whether Huck gets the girl or wins the big tournament.

Instead, we're more drawn to Barrymore's naive but sweet Billie and Duvall's charismatic gambler, who is probably the most interesting character here.

"Lucky You" is rated PG-13 for scattered profanity, suggestive references and humor, and a brief scene of violence (use of strong-arm tactics). Running time: 125 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com