Logan Lucky

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19 August 2017| No Comments on Logan Lucky     by Sean Chavel

 

Steven Soderbergh’s redneck racetrack heist picture. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver are a pair of hard luck brothers. Tatum has lost his hard-hat job because of a limp injury didn’t report and Driver has a prosthetic arm after losing a limb while on military tour. Tatum, with his gentlemanly manners but with a rough and tumble exterior, is sharing custody of his daughter with a self-centered ex (Katie Holmes). Driver, sidetracked as a bartender with few other ambitions, is built for taking on high stakes. The two simply need a break in life, and robbin’ the racetrack will do. They can’t do a heist without the help of explosives expert Joe Bang (Daniel Craig, gone bonkers), so they need to break him out of prison and put him back in the day of the robbery. Y’know, it’s all a quirky adventure, a comedic gut punch on white trash types, an elaborate robbery with a ton of little details.

Plus, it’s always something more when you got Soderbergh at the helm. He uses genre formulas while at the same time putting a sociological X-ray on these North Carolina and West Virginia types; Soderbergh is investigating relationships, divorces, social rejects, anti-social grifters, low-lifes, working stiffs, power-trippers—all within the plot formula. There is no other director like him.

The plot goods are delivered. Then <em>Logan Lucky</em> offers a more delicious aftermath than what we usually get with this type of heist picture, in terms of how an FBI investigation is handled in NASCAR country. Smart as heckfire.

Hilary Swank and Macon Blair are those FBI agents, Riley Keough as Tatum’s feisty sister; Katherine Waterston as a doctor with a vague past with Tatum; Seth MacFarlane as a snotty NASCAR racing magnate hidden under jheri-curls; Dwight Yoakam surprisingly hilarious as a warden out to hide any scandal that would defile his prison’s reputation.

Steven Soderbergh’s biggest hit of his career was “Ocean’s Eleven.” In Soderbergh’s first go at directing after a four-year break, the rob-the-NASCAR-racetrack flick Logan Lucky is kind of a redneck “Ocean’s Eleven” with its own unique dose of quirkiness. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver are a pair of hard luck brothers – Tatum has lost his hard-hat job because of a limp injury he didn’t report and Driver has a prosthetic arm after losing a limb while on a tour of military duty. They simply need a break in life, and robbin’ the racetrack will do. They can’t do a heist without the help of explosives expert Joe Bang (Daniel Craig, gone bonkers), so they need to break him out of prison and break him back in on the day of the robbery. It’s a quirky heist movie with a first half that’s sort of a comedic gut punch on white trash types, with a speedier second half once it gets onto the robbery.

Other supporting players include Katie Holmes as Tatum’s irritable ex-wife who is now living the high life, Riley Keough as Tatum’s feisty sister, Katherine Waterston as a doctor with a vague past with Tatum, Seth MacFarlane as a snotty NASCAR racing magnate hidden under jheri-curls, and Dwight Yoakam surprisingly hilarious as a warden out to hide any scandal that would defile his prison’s reputation.

Before he was fired, Tatum peeked at how NASCAR was handling money in a tube system which gave me some bright dastardly ideas how to vacuum out the riches. The heist isn’t exceedingly exciting, but it is definitely done in a clever way that gets carried out with max nonchalance, with only a couple hiccups. The neatest part of the are the intercut scenes with the prison that doesn’t seem to know Joe Bang is gone. As for Tatum, for a guy that’s been strapped for cash, who has been humiliated by divorce and isn’t by his young daughter as often as he’d like, you’d think he’d be a huffing desperation. But Tatum modus operandi is to be rather hang-loose about all circumstances. That doesn’t make him a fully believable character, but somehow, Tatum is entertaining with his no-sweat élan.

“Logan Lucky” is a mid-range joy ride. As for Soderbergh, as long as he continues to play with mash-up genres, or in this case, make a smart movie about desperate low income scallywags, he will be a director always worth watching.

118 Minutes. Rated PG-13.

SUSPENSEFUL HEIST MOVIES / TEENS / WEEKEND AFTERNOON BLAST

Film Cousins: “Blue Collar” (1978); “Quick Change” (1990); “Out of Sight” (1998); “Ocean’s Eleven (2001).

Logan-Lucky_Poster _2017-Heist-Movies

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Sean Chavel

About The Author / Sean Chavel

Sean Chavel is a Hollywood based author and movie reviewer. He is the Executive Director of flickminute.com, a new website that has adapted the movie review site genre by introducing moodbased and movie experience based reviews.

 

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