Lucky Guy (play)
The plot covers the high points and tribulations of McAlary's career as he traverses the clubby atmosphere of the New York City tabloid industry in what some regard as its heyday.
[1] Ephron focused the story on the career of New York City tabloid columnist Mike McAlary from his early beginnings to his rise to stardom, when he received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for exposing police brutality against a Haitian immigrant named Abner Louima in Brooklyn's 70th precinct, and his death, eight months later, of cancer.
[9] Hanks had previously starred in Ephron's popular films, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail,[10] but he had last performed live in the theatre in 1979 for Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of The Mandrake.
McAlary's report, "Rape Hoax the Real Crime", alleged that the woman had concocted the story, intending to use it political purposes such as speaking at lesbian rallies.
[12] Mike McAlary, from 1985 to 1993, bounds from one New York City newsroom to another as he achieves career success, covering such stories as the tainted Tylenol case and the Buddy Boys of the 7-7 scandal.
[4] According to David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, the play is an "elegy for an already remote era in journalism" that predates the current 24-hour news cycle and the "decimation of the newspaper business".
[13] According to Richard Zoglin of Time, "Lucky Guy captures the hard-drinking, boys-club camaraderie, gets into the weeds of how reporters actually get people to talk, and shows us the rivalries and egos and dubious ethics that are all part of the package".
When the two reacquainted while Hanks was promoting Larry Crowne in 2011, she informed him that she had converted the work into a play and that Hugh Jackman had even done a table read.
[1] Maura Tierney and Courtney B. Vance were added to the cast, which included Hanks' former Bosom Buddies co-star Peter Scolari, on January 7, 2013.
[26] Reviewers considered the play notable as Hanks' debut and Ephron's posthumous finale, and reactions were generally warm to mixed.
[32] A glowing review was delivered by Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Lucky Guy is both an elegy and a valentine to a vanishing world held dear in the collective imagination of New Yorkers, that of the rough-and-tumble of big-city newsrooms and scoop-hungry reporters.
[33] New York Observer critic Rex Reed also enthused: "It’s a play that grabs you by the throat, makes you laugh and cry, holds you transfixed for two hours, paralyzes you from start to finish, and leaves you cheering.
"[2] New York Magazine critic Jesse Green similarly commented: "With an insider's devastating combination of repulsion and affection, Nora Ephron has written a most unlikely thing: a play about journalism, or really about telling stories, that is as rich and rough and elegiac and fun as the lost world it re-creates.
[35] Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the play a C+ grade noting that it is "a show rolling in good will and affection for the playwright", for the debut of Hanks, and for "the real-life story" of McAlary.
[37] A mixed review by Alexis Soloski in The Guardian called the play "a profane love letter to the lost, rollicking world of New York tabloid journalism.
[14] Rooney judged that the play was "Directed with warmth and vitality by George C. Wolfe, it’s performed with relish by a dynamic cast of pros, piloted by an uncharacteristically rough-edged Tom Hanks.
"[14] Rooney described the play as unexceptional, cursory and simple, despite its intelligent writing, engrossing and often funny dialogue and commented that: "Brimming with testosterone and grit, it’s an unabashed celebration of male camaraderie, swaggering ambition and competitiveness.
"[14] Kumar, writing in The Independent, was disappointed in the play's depth and Hanks's acting,[13] but thought that Courtney B. Vance's portrayal of Hap Hairston, who was one of McAlary's editors was a highlight.
