<P>A&nbsp;small-time bank robber in prison hatches a plan to escape by staging a musical. <BR></P>

A small-time bank robber in prison hatches a plan to escape by staging a musical.

Jimmy, James Nesbitt, and Rudy, Lennie James, bungle a bank robbery and wind up in a prison run by a governor, Christopher Plummer, who adores Rodgers and Hammerstein. The governor has written a musical about the life of Nelson, and the lads plan to stage an escape during a production of the show. Lucky Break is the second film directed by Peter Cattaneo who hit paydirt with his first, The Full Monty. There are similar themes - desperate men staging an entertainment -but the follow-up is a very feeble, very familiar effort with a charmless lead performance and little in the way of genuine comedy or suspense. Actors like Timothy Spall and Bill Nighy do the best they can under the circumstances, but this is one of those films which just never begins to work. It\'s getting a very limited release this week before an early appearance at a video store near you.