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.

This was probably my 4th or 5th time watching "Logan Lucky". The movie ages like fine wine. Each new veiwing just gets better and better, and with each new viewing you pick up on something you hadn't before. The characters are witty, perfectly flawed, oddly relatable, and surprisingly ethical, which makes the heist they're attempting to pull off even better.

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.

I'd like to preface this by saying that southern humor is hilarious to me. Talking in an exaggerated country accent can exponentially elevate any film's comedic level. That's a big reason why I think O Brother Where Art Thou is such comedic gold. And Hell or High Water wouldn't be the same without the southern setting and chippy dialogue.

Anyway, this was a funny movie. It was also a wildly entertaining movie. What if lacked in depth, it made up for in charm. This won't be for everyone, but if you're in the mood for a robbery movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, then watch this one.

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.