Lucky Bastard is a “found footage” thriller about a porn website run by Mike (Don McManus) that invites fans to have sex with porn stars. Jay Paulson plays Dave, an eager young fan given a chance to have sex with the fabulous Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue). But everyone gets more than they bargained for in the seemingly mild-mannered Dave… with gruesome results. The film is captured by the “Lucky Bastard” porn cameras for a fresh take on the “found footage” genre.
The cast of Lucky Bastard includes veteran performers known for their work in movies, television and theatre, including Jay Paulson, familiar to audiences as Don Draper’s brother, Adam Whitman, in Mad Men, and Don McManus, who this year also stars in Grand Piano, with John Cusack and Elijah Wood, and The Congress, with Paul Giamatti, Robin Wright and Frances Fisher.
The director and co-writer of Lucky Bastard is veteran television writer-producer Robert Nathan, best known for his Emmy-nominated work on Law & Order.
Lucky Bastard’s graphic nature, sexual situations, violence and uncensored language place it firmly in the realm of American independent cinema, with an angle on life distinctly outside that of traditional Hollywood mainstream films. The film is set in a world ostensibly considered contemptible, but depicts it in ways that we don’t expect. For the characters of Lucky Bastard, pornography is simply an industry like any other, with regular working people going to work every day and earning a living.
Lucky Bastard is a mix of themes that epitomize independent filmmaking. Going behind the scenes of one of our largest entertainment industries, the film offers a reflective take on the deepest currents in our society: its preoccupation with sexual desire, the commoditization of sexuality, and humiliation as a product of commerce.
