Luck, Sky Atlantic, review - Telegraph Even the most audacious gambler would have been reluctant to bet against Luck (Sky Atlantic) being anything but top-drawer. Made by US cable network HBO, TV's most trusted seal of approval, this lavish new drama is set in the world of thoroughbred horse racing and clearly has impeccable credentials: it stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, is written by Deadwood creator David Milch and tonight's opener was directed by the acclaimed Michael Mann (Heat, Inside Man and Miami Vice). That the pilot didn't quite deliver, then, came as something of a surprise. While undeniably beautiful to look at - the production values resembled that of a big-budget Hollywood movie - it was also pretentiously opaque. Fans of Deadwood will already know that Milch makes no concessions to the viewer's ignorance, but here it felt a bit much; at first I was worried that I might be watching a later episode by mistake. Indeed, dropped into the sun-drenched surroundings of Santa Anita Park, a Southern Californian racetrack, we had only our wits to guide us, as we were introduced to perhaps a dozen characters. Among them: Chester "Ace" Bernstein (Hoffman), a vengeful mobster just out of prison and hoping to bring casino gambling to the racetrack; Gus Demitriou (Dennis Farina), his silver-haired, perma-tanned bodyguard and chauffeur; Walter Smith (Nolte), a hirsute, gruff-voiced horse trainer-turned-owner; and Turo Escalante (John Ortiz), a scheming Peruvian whose job is to take care of Ace's Irish thoroughbred. There was light relief in the shape of four bickering gamblers, played by Jason Gedrick, Kevin Dunn, Ian Hart (brilliant in last year's BBC television play, The Man Who Crossed Hitler) and Ritchie Coster. But with so many characters jostling for screen time - and so far no discernible plot - it was hard to work out who we're meant to sympathise with. As with many HBO dramas - Treme springs to mind - the pace here was slow and the performances first-rate. Hoffman, in his first ever major television role, was impressively restrained, his face never giving too much away, while the supporting cast, namely Gedrick and Dunn, were noisier but no less intriguing. Of course it helped that they were all reading from a smart, meticulous script, penned by a man who obviously knows the racetrack: Milch is a horse owner himself and partial to the occasional bet, which explains all the arcane jockey lingo. The race sequences, meanwhile, were a treat, bearing all the hallmarks of Mann's directorial style: they were taut, visceral, and featured plenty of lengthy close-ups. It's a shame, then, that the episode as a whole was so frustratingly difficult to get a purchase on. My advice, though: stick with Luck. It'll soon find its stride.