Logan Lucky

Down-on-his-luck Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) has just lost his job. Once he was a promising football player but an injury ended his career and now he's barely making ends meet. He decides to pull off an audacious robbery at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he recruits a motley gang to pull it off, including his Iraq-war-vet brother Clyde (Adam Driver), their hairdresser sister Mellie (Riley Keough), and an incarcerated explosives expert named Joe Bang (Daniel Craig).

I was hesitant to watch this one. While I like heist films, and many of director Soderbergh's films, the "southern fried" milieu, coupled with the NASCAR setting seemed like something I'd rather avoid. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie doesn't dwell on mocking southern stereotypes, and the NASCAR elements are kept largely in the background. The performances are good, with Tatum and Driver making for believable blank-faced losers who are maybe a bit sharper than they let on. Craig gets the showiest part, with his hair bleached almost white and the outline of West Virginia tattooed on his neck. The heist particulars are intricate and interesting, but I had the feeling after finishing the movie that dwelling on the details for too long would make a lot of it fall apart. Still, this was better than expected, and an enjoyable time for those not expecting too much.

Was on my radar for a long time.

Saw this recently on Amazon Prime.

Was a treat to see Adam Driver, Channing Tatum n Daniel Craig together.

The movie moves at a good pace n the performances are top notch.

Steven Soderbergh has never been one of my favorite directors, but you have to respect the diversity of his output. He appears to be about as whimsical as a filmmaker can be, given the dedication and discipline of such a medium, taking on projects as they intrigue him for the pure pleasure of the craft and the journey of the creation. I almost wonder if he even pays much attention when his films are released; it seems more likely he's already preoccupied at that point with whatever's next.

Logan Lucky is another take on the "cool heist" subgenre already explored by Soderbergh in the Ocean's Eleven franchise. This one takes place in the South and leaves no character archetype of such a milieu unexploited. The cast is great, with Adam Driver's laconic, minimalistic performance as an ex-soldier-turned-bartender being the standout for me. He gives Buster Keaton a run for his money as far as brilliantly expressive stone-faced characters are concerned.

Like a lot of heist movies (or con man films), the plot is a bit too intricate for its own good. Much of the fun in the first act of the film (the dry wit of the character interactions) subsides as the complexities of the plan are illustrated for the audience. Such movies tend to fall in love with the cleverness of their own mechanics, and that's not particularly what I'm there for. Fortunately there are a couple of uproarious set pieces sprinkled amidst the job itself that redeem all the exposition and the a-to-b-to-c logistics. It also takes too long to end. But I watched Logan Lucky with a group of friends and it was a definite crowd-pleaser, so obviously the flaws are not overwhelming.

Logan Lucky is first and foremost a heist movie. Arguably it's the first of its kind this decade, since the last time a really good movie of this stripe has focused on downhill good 'ol boys pulling an all-American snatch-and-grab, Burt Reynolds was still relevant. In its advertising the film mentions itself in the same breath as Ocean's Eleven (2001) but aside from both having the same director, the two couldn't be more miles apart. One's about career confidence men drinking fancy martinis. The other's about petty criminals snatching chump change from concession drawers. One's essentially Michael Caine, the other is Steve Martin.

As such, Logan Lucky doesn't come with the standard beats and rhythms of your average Italian Job (2003). It's slower, quirkier, meanders down narrative avenues then calls it all back in drastically different ways. While doing so it's also more human, more sympathetic calling to mind the best aspects of The Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) with a uniquely Appalachian twang.

Recently let go from his construction job due to, "liability reasons with insurance," former football prodigy Jimmy Logan (Tatum) decides to put in motion a robbery plan he's obviously been thinking about for some time. He recruits his siblings, hairdresser Mellie (Keough) and one-handed bartender Clyde (Driver), to aid him. Then they knock on the door of infamous local demolitions expert and safe cracker Joe Bang (Craig) whose incarceration proves the first snag of many to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

As with all heist movies, much of the entertainment stems from the tension created when the plan, as described to the satisfaction of the audience deviates ever so slightly risking exposure. What Logan Lucky doesn't just get right but gets near darn perfect is the way it plays with that convention. Large problems seem to wash over the ensemble with increasing grace almost as if they know they can rely on their community; family and own God-given intelligence to carry the day. Minor problems come across as inspired character moments for which Jimmy, Joe Bang and his brothers (Quaid and Gleeson) show their goofy, simple, superstitious selves.

I say goofy and simple not to be derivative, though if that's what you take from it then the film's prestige may come as a more pleasant surprise than you could hope for. Much of the plan relies on other characters, such as a stuffy prison warden (Yoakam) and a haughty race promoter (MacFarlane) to underestimate our ensemble's abilities.

The film does an excellent job humanizing our heroes by exploring and framing their environments as a point of fact. Jimmy doesn't live in squalor; he lives in a cozy house overlooking the West Virginia hills. Clyde isn't a one-handed freak, he's a war hero and a dedicated bartender to boot, Mellie, a capable getaway driver, the Bang brothers - professional bandits who "know all the twitters". The camera further highlights this by panning and gliding at low angles making everyone loom larger; everyone including a late third act addition in Hilary Swank as a resourceful FBI investigator.

The film is not without its faults. The pacing seems to shift up and down like a Mustang barreling down the Eastbound I-64. And despite its knack for air-tight alibis, Logan Lucky leaves the audience hanging with a lot of unanswered questions. Given the controversy surrounding the financing of the film, there's little doubt a sequel is being planned. One which I look forward to, but if film is said to be poetic justice in a hundred minutes or less, Logan Lucky doesn't come across as poetic as it should be.

All that said, Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky is a breeze. It's a fine and feral addition to the pantheon of good time slice-of-life crime comedies that were first kicked off by Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) and the like. And its quirkiness is helped immensely by its motley cast who by enlarge do wonders humanizing characters that otherwise would have been shrouded in misplaced mythos. If you've been curious about this one, do yourself a favor and check it out.

After a summer of remakes and so called blockbusters i popped along to watch this with no hopes or misgivings...I hold an unlimited card so went knowing the cost was immaterial.

What I found was typical of the kind of movie you decide to just take in because I have a card and 2 hours to spare..

A little cracker of a gem to finish off the summer.

Some people are complaining about it not being what the trailers says it is...but if you know about movies then you should know that they never are.

A very well made " Just watch it" movie which never takes itself too seriously and makes you smile and chuckle from start to finish.

Everybody is in on what this movie should be..in my opinion somewhere in between "Stir Crazy" and " The Italian Job" ...with a pinch of "Twin Peaks" added to the recipe.

Surprisingly cheerful and just what the doctor ordered for the onslaught of the usual rehash and part 2's and 3's.

The only way to make up your mind is to suspend your senses and dabble with this for a while.