The film’s novel premise centers on Sam (Eva Noblezada), an orphan who has aged out of the foster-care system and sets out to start a new job and live on her own for the first time. The problem is, she is incredibly unlucky and almost everything that can possibly go wrong in her life does. Then one day while eating a panini, her fortunes change when she meets Bob (Simon Pegg), a talking cat from the Land of Luck where good luck is created for everyone on Earth. 

The cast also includes Whoopi Goldberg as Bob’s boss, a leprechaun who has it in for him, Jane Fonda as a dragon named Babe in charge of the Land of Luck, and Flula Borg, who voices Jeff, a unicorn and maintenance engineer in a place called the In Between. The voice work is superb, although I wished Babe’s character would have been a bit more multidimensional to give the legendary Fonda more of a chance to shine. And while the performances are very good and the initial premise is intriguing, the film never really stretches much beyond that, with Bob and Sam’s quest to obtain a lucky penny leading to further, more harrowing, but somewhat predictable adventures. 

The whimsical and inventive animation, Sam’s perpetually upbeat mood in the face of adversity, and the movie’s overall positivity are charming and will likely appeal to younger children. I did find the visuals like the many tiny bunnies that appear throughout to be quite endearing, even though I thought them to be a bit reminiscent of minions. And while the movie tries really hard, even having John Ratzenberger voicing a supporting character like he did in so many Pixar films, it just can’t reach the same heights as some of its predecessors like the more thought-provoking and cerebral Inside Out or Soul. 

As with much of Apple TV+’s recent programming, the Dolby Vision presentation is absolutely first-rate. The picture is bright and punchy, as you might expect from a film set mostly in a place called the Land of Luck, with deep saturated greens in the intricate herring-bone patterns on the leprechauns’ uniforms and the foliage consisting of four-leaf clovers found on every type of tree and plant. Bob’s black coat ranges from deep black to dark gray depending on the realistic reflection of light off his coarse fur, which appears quite different in texture from the fuzziness of the bunnies. The picture is always razor-sharp, which reveals plenty of fine detail in the intricate animation, such as reflections in the visors of the bunnies’ hazmat suits and the shiny surfaces of the many whimsical vehicles zipping around the Land of Luck. The CGI visuals of Luck will look excellent on a high-quality HDR display.

The soundtrack, presented in Dolby Atmos, is engaging with some very catchy songs but could have benefited from a more aggressive mix. For instance, the opening credits begin with a delightful cover of Madonna’s “Lucky Star” with a clean and open sound spread evenly between the front speakers, but there isn’t much use of the surround and height channels or much bass energy either. Later, when Sam follows Bob through a portal to the Land of Luck, the swirling sound effects make much better use of all the available channels. Except for a few instances, scenes with such immersive sonic bombast are mostly absent from the rest of the film until the climactic scene featuring sweeping orchestral music and plenty of raucous directional surround effects. 

Luck is a rare near miss for Apple TV+, whose strategy of providing limited content comprised of only original films and shows allows them to concentrate on quality rather than quantity. However, this film still looks great and will be suitable for younger children with its positive themes and kid-friendly content.