JACKPOT! `LUCKY NUMBERS' LOOKING LIKE A WINNER TO EPHRON AND COMPANY.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

Nora Ephron has made a career out of making mushy movies, but she knew that if she directed another romantic comedy after ``You've Got Mail,'' she'd be contemplating suicide (personally and professionally).

So it was a relief, she says, when she read the script for the black comedy ``Lucky Numbers'' and discovered that none of the characters possessed even the vaguest of romantic notions. In fact, there were more killings than kisses.

The film's dark tone has a few people comparing it to the Coen brothers' ``Fargo,'' but Ephron shakes her head at the notion of any such connection.

``This thing, I don't know what to call it,'' Ephron says. ``I would say it's darkish as opposed to dark because I think it plays more in the comedy vein. We're not putting people through wood chippers here.''

And that's the thing. Ephron is still Ephron, the woman who wrote ``When Harry Met Sally ...'' and directed ``Sleepless in Seattle,'' and she's only willing to veer so far from the comic territory that has defined her career.

In ``Lucky Numbers,'' Ephron, working from a screenplay by former David Letterman staff writer Adam Resnick, tells the story of a goofball weatherman (John Travolta) who conspires to rig the lottery with his station's lotto ball girl (Lisa Kudrow). Nobody here is playing with a full deck, so it's not surprising that the scheme goes awry, resulting in numerous complications.

Travolta and Ephron teamed four years ago in ``Michael,'' and the two figured that film's commercial success (it grossed more than $100 million) warranted a second go-around.

``The movie is very different for him and for me, and that's what I loved about it,'' Ephron says. ``John always plays the coolest guy in the movie and here he had the opportunity to play this dim bulb who thinks he's something because he has his own booth at Denny's.''

Says Travolta: ``I love Nora. She allows me the freedom to be funny. For some reason, I'm pretty good at playing these characters that aren't particularly rocket scientists. Lisa is, too. It's probably because I'm closer to a rocket scientist than most people, as I have seven jet licenses. And Lisa has a degree from Vassar.''

Of course, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that ``Lucky Numbers'' comes at a critical career juncture for Travolta, fresh off the disastrous ``Battlefield Earth.'' Travolta, though, adept at spin (or denial), insists that he's happy with the critically and commercially panned production.

``I was actually pleased with the outcome; it did a lot better than I thought it would ultimately do,'' Travolta says. ``By nature, critics don't care for science fiction. I looked up old reviews just to help myself feel better about it. '2001' got creamed. 'Blade Runner' was creamed. That's not bad company. As time goes on, 'Battlefield Earth' will be appreciated in retrospect. A lot of times, modern art is like that.''

Cynics might suggest that such comments illustrate Ephron's raves about Travolta's facility for comedy. But for co-star Kudrow, a graduate of Taft High in Woodland Hills, Travolta stands as a genuine influence, someone she watched early in her career to understand his techniques.

``In 'Saturday Night Fever,' he was playing the kind of idiot that I like to play, so I studied him,'' Kudrow says. ``He just was that character, Tony Manero. The comedy came out of honest behavior, not gestures. I would watch that and say, 'That's the way to do it. That's deep-down funny to me.' ''

So was Kudrow intimidated by working with Travolta?

``Yeah, a little bit. Especially since the first scene we rehearsed had us in bed with me straddling him. That was a little weird. Because, um, I had had those thoughts before, growing up, of being in precisely that situation.''

The situation that Ephron found herself in when she finished filming in March wasn't nearly as funny, though. Paramount Pictures, the film's distributor, had penciled ``Lucky Numbers'' in for a July release, mostly because the studio had a hole in its summer schedule. Ephron, according to a source close to the production, went through the roof, telling Paramount executives that she had never had a movie ready with a mere 90 days of post-production and she wasn't about to start now.

Ephron also, according to the same source, maintained that ``Lucky Numbers'' was never a summer movie to begin with, since the movie's action is set during a Pennsylvania winter. Paramount backed down and moved the film to its current October slot, which prompted the many observers to speculate that the studio was running away from the horrendous press Travolta received for ``Battlefield Earth.''

``If you start worrying about things like that, you have to move from over-the-counter sleep remedies to prescription sleep remedies,'' says Ephron.

``Let me just say that I've always thought that filmmakers that rush a movie out to make an unrealistic release date never get any brownie points. If the movie isn't ready, it isn't ready. It shouldn't be shown.''

Besides, Ephron had enough worries since ``Lucky Numbers'' was her first stab at making a dark(ish) comedy.

``When you make a movie like this, you honestly don't know if it works until the first time you show it to an audience,'' Ephron says.

``You want to make sure you keep people laughing while you say, 'Guess what, folks, a person is going to die right now.' I always have a lot of sleepless nights when I'm making a movie, but wondering about that - would the audience keep laughing? - kept me up a lot later than normal.''

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6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) John Travolta and Lisa Kudrow in `Lucky Numbers'

(2) John Travolta, who stars as a foolish weatherman in ``Lucky Numbers,'' says of his latest role, ``For some reason, I'm pretty good at playing these characters that aren't particularly rocket scientists.''

(3 -- 5) Lisa Kudrow, above left, plays the local lotto ball girl, who helps rig the game and seeks advice, above center, from shady strip club owner Tim Roth, left, as she and weatherman John Travolta converse with him about their planned scam in ``Lucky Numbers,'' directed by Nora Ephron, above right.

(6) Russ Richards (John Travolta, left) and Crystal Latroy (Lisa Kudrow) come into some state lottery money, and Walter (Michael Moore) wants a piece of the action in ``Lucky Numbers.''