Review of Logan Lucky (2017) by Clarisesamuels — 14 Oct 2018

This film is the much anticipated comeback of renowned director Steven Soderbergh, known for his Ocean’s Eleven and Twelve heist movies as well as other classics like Sex, Lies and Videotapes. Heist movies can be extremely entertaining, and there was certainly enough entertainment value here to keep the viewer glued to the screen. Nevertheless, it does not quite play like the vintage brand one would expect from one of the world’s most talented directors.

And there is no shortage of talent—Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Katie Holmes, Seth MacFarlane, a small part for Hilary Swank, and a supporting role for, surprisingly, Daniel Craig. Craig’s role as Southern blue-collar Joe Bang, who appears to have a low IQ unless he’s making a bomb, in which case he becomes a chemistry genius, is a far cry from James Bond or even for that matter, from Craig’s character in Layer Cake. His crew-cut hair is bleached albino white, he sports an unhealthy pallor with sunken eyes, offset by body-building muscles, too many tattoos, and a Southern accent so thick that maybe it would only be found in a remote pocket of hillbilly, Appalachian society, and even there it may not exist. His most famous line here, “Ah aym iyn-CAR-cer-RATED,” hints at parody. This is all perhaps a tribute to Craig’s acting range, because if you were madly in love with James Bond, after seeing Joe Bang, you’ll get over it. Not that Craig will care. He has never been very receptive to fawning fans, even before he married Rachel Weisz, back when he tried to deter the swooning mobs by standing up at a Bond premiere in London and publicly announcing, “I love Satsuki Mitchell.”.

Channing Tatum plays Jimmy Logan who, laid off from a construction job because of an old injury, decides he needs to get easy money and to do so, plans the perfect heist. Rather than rob a bank, he robs the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 race where the cash bets are delivered by way of pneumatic tube transport, which is a network of tubes that propels cylindrical containers by air vacuum. The containers hold the cash and end up deep underground in a basement to which the thieves have access. In order to pull this off, they have to break master thief Joe Bang out of jail for one afternoon and then safely return him before anyone notices he is gone. There are accomplices, including Bang’s two halfwit brothers (Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson). Katie Holmes plays Jimmy Logan’s ex-wife and mother of his adorable little girl (Farrah Mackenzie), who can sing and dance and compete in Little Miss West Virginia’s beauty, glitz, and talent contest.

The plot is complicated and often elucidated by the characters speaking in their exaggerated Southern brogue, which is at times impossible to understand. The confusion is such that the viewer will simply focus on the action, which is well directed by Soderbergh. And with all those famous actors producing a fair number of magical moments, the film is watchable.