By JoAnne Portnoy

"Lucky Numbers," starring John Travolta and "The Yards,"starring Mark Wahlberg both examine the downward spirals of their respective protagonists, the first with a would-be comic approach, the other with a realistic, somber tone.

Travolta, fresh from his last fruitless effort in the wretched "Battlefield Earth," doesn’t fare a whole lot better this time around in a dark comedy about a bumbling scam to rip off the Pennsylvania state lottery. The film has some funny moments, but doesn’t sustain the humor. The individual performances are admirable, but the outcome is a mixed bag of absurd, morbid moments that don’t quite come off as funny, juxtaposed with some comic interludes that do get a laugh, mostly early on.

Travolta plays Russ Richards, a hammy weatherman and overzealous local celeb who cherishes his private booth at Denny’s, poses ecstatically with kids of fans, and sports a flashy red Jaguar convertible. Problem is, his latest impulsive investment in a snowmobile dealership is in trouble due to a freakish warm spell that even he couldn’t predict. In an effort to save his collapsing empire, he seeks advice from local strip club owner Gig (Tim Roth,) who gets him involved in one bad scheme after another. Things go from bad to worse, as Gig engages his pal Dale the Thug (Michael Rapaport, funny as usual as a big, dopey punk) and dead bodies start turning up. Enter Lisa Kudrow as Crystal, the slutty, opportunist lotto-ball girl at the TV station, who displays a psychotic alter-ego all too frequently, pair her up with Travolta’s weatherman and you have two dimwits attempting one final plot to scam the state lottery for $6.4 million.

The premise isn’t a bad one (it’s based on a true 1980 Pennsylvania case,) but rather it is the dark-comedy element, an offbeat spin that’s supposed to spoof morbid events and make them funny, that fails here. Director Nora Ephron ("Sleepless in Seattle" and "You’ve Got Mail") and screenwriter Adam Resnick ("The Cabin Boy") don’t pull off that critical satirical tone, and the protagonist’s situation becomes more desperate than funny, and his plummet irritating to watch.

Kudrow is the funniest among the cast, with her goofy "Friends" persona combined with a demented psycho-killer attitude that she turns off and on like a switch. Bill Pullman showcases his comic timing as well in a small role as an inept, lazy cop whose disability claim was revoked after he was caught on video swinging a huge axe. Michael Moore (documentarian of "Roger and Me") is funny in a pathetic way, as Crystal’s nerdy asthmatic cousin/porno freak who fronts as the buyer of the lottery ticket, and Ed O’Neill is okay in a not-so-funny role as the sleazy TV station manager.

"The Yards" on the other hand, takes a serious approach to its dark theme about a young man earnestly trying to turn his life around and become a productive, honest individual. The mood is subdued and somber throughout, as Mark Wahlberg’s character, Leo, is forced to deal with complex issues that stem from his treacherous background in queens, New York. Fresh out of jail, he faces the temptation to make some quick but shady money and later on he must make dire decisions involving loyalty to friends and family. Wahlberg, the Dorchester, Massachusetts homeboy is of course a natural when it comes to portraying streetwise types, and one feels the depths of his desperation as his life spirals out of his control and he sinks deeper and deeper into trouble. This gritty depiction of a boy teetering on the verge of corruption is so heavy and so realistic, it is consuming. The acting is brilliant, with a kind of bland, underplaying of all the roles, making it even more credible and somehow more ominous.

Wahlberg’s ex-con Leo (incidentally, the actor actually spent 45 days in Mass. correction facilities in his wayward youth) hooks up with a well-off uncle (James Caan as a shrewd old-timer who knows all the angles when it comes to business) upon his release from prison. The uncle owns a subway repair company where Leo finesses a job alongside his best friend Willie (Joaquin Phoenix as a cool executive-type who’s making big bucks.) As Leo learns the ropes, he discovers that Willie’s hotshot job involves bribing local politicians into sending big contracts his way and sabotaging the work of competing companies. Before long, things go awry and a night watchman in the train yards (the source of the title) gets killed during one of their sabotage missions. Leo is the only one later identified and is accused of the murder and more. Leo’s world starts to crumble as he goes on the lam and ultimately must decide on a course of action to save his life and reputation. Such a decision could mean the downfall of his friend Willie who really committed the murder, as well as his uncle who authorized all the payoffs and scandals, and who Leo might have to implicate to clear his own name.

Charlize Theron also stars as the uncle’s step-daughter who dates his right-hand man Willie, with Faye Dunaway as her mother and Ellen Burstyn as Leo’s mother, both hanging in the balance, reacting to each tragic turn of events.

The acting is exceptional all around, and is the foundation for this richly-textured, heavy-duty film about a man who is trapped and must make choices that will forever effect not only his life, but the lives of people that surround him, some who have been loyal and some who betrayed him.