Review of Logan Lucky (2017) by Patrick L — 14 Nov 2017

"It maybe viewed as "Ocean's Fourteen" to some people but "Logan Lucky" is vastly original, it has a lot of energy and spirit and it's damn good to have Steven Soderbergh back".

Movie Review: Logan Lucky.

Date Viewed: September 6 2017.

Directed By Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, Magic Mike, The Limey, Contagion and Side Effects).

Written By Rebecca Blunt.

Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, Katherine Waterston, Seth MacFarlane, Farrah Mackenzie, Dwight Yoakam, Jack Quaid, Sebastian Stan, Brian Gleeson, David Denman and Hilary Swank.

"Logan Lucky" is not your typical heist movie, it centers around two unlucky blue collar brothers who hatch a plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Who's better to direct this heist comedy than Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, Magic Mike, Contagion, The Limey) who helmed the "Ocean's Trilogy". He came out of retirement to direct this film and plus he also got Bleecker Street to distribute it independently through his own company Fingerprint. Crowd-funding your own film projects maybe the next step for independent filmmakers who want to make the movies they want to make.

"Logan Lucky" is not a sequel to the superhero saga "Logan" from earlier this year, it is just a really funny heist comedy that has a sharp script by Rebecca Blunt and very good performances from Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and a scene-stealing Daniel Craig. When I tried to find out more about Rebecca Blunt (the screenwriter), there was no information about her on her IMDB page. The big rumor swirling around this movie is that Rebecca Blunt may not even exist. If Blunt didn't write the script. Who did? Was it Steven Soderbergh himself? One of the film's stars? Or somebody else?

Regardless of the mystery surrounding it's screenwriter, I still had a good time with "Logan Lucky". Set in West Virginia, the film revolves around Jimmy Logan (Tatum), a blue collar laborer who gets laid off from his construction job. Jimmy had a once promising football career but it came crashing down due to a serious leg injury. Because of his leg injury, that's why he was fired. Jimmy can still walk fine but his boss finds that he's not as quick compared to his co-workers. While picking up his daughter, Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie), Jimmy's ex-wife, Bobbie Jo Chapman (Katie Holmes) informs him that she and her new hubby intend to move to Lynchburg which will make it even harder for Jimmy to visit his daughter.

While hanging out at his brother's bar, Jimmy comes up with a plan to make some good money, by robbing the Charlotte Motor Speedway. His one-armed, Iraq war veteran brother, Clyde (Driver) agrees to his plan but two robbers aren't enough, they need help from their sister, Mellie (Riley Keough) and a convicted safecracker named Joe Bang (Craig) who's currently incarcerated. Clyde has a prosthetic left hand because he lost it while serving in Iraq. Before he got fired from his construction job, Jimmy participated in an excavation project underneath the speedway and he has the insights on how such a robbery can be pulled off. There's a pneumatic tube system underneath the speedway for moving money and Jimmy's goal is to plug the tube system, suck up all the money and walk away free.

How are they going to get Joe Bang out of prison? Well, Clyde will get himself arrested and go to jail in the exact same prison where Joe Bang is and come up with an escape plan before the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 race begins. In addition to Bang, Jimmy and Clyde also recruit Joe's brothers, Sam and Fish Bang (Brian Gleeson and Jack Quaid) who are just as dimwitted as the Three Stooges. All Jimmy wants to do is to execute the perfect heist and not cause any hold-ups or suspicion.

After he made "Side Effects" in 2013, Steven Soderbergh announced that he was retiring from filmmaking but he really didn't retire, he just took a four-year hiatus. For the past few years, Soderbergh never lost his filmmaking passion and he became a creative monopoly behind the TV series "The Knick" which he directed, edited, shot and executive produced. Even though it has mainstream storytelling, Soderbergh doesn't make his film too mainstream. "Logan Lucky" is a well-constructed heist movie with a lot of laughs and charming performances. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver are quite believe as blue collar brothers who really need some luck in their life and Daniel Craig is sensationally hilarious here as Joe Bang. Other recognizable names in "Logan Lucky" include Seth MacFarlane as a pretentious British businessman, Hilary Swank as an idealistic but mostly stiff FBI agent, Dwight Yoakam as a prison warden and Katherine Waterston as a former schoolmate of Jimmy who now runs a mobile clinic.

"Logan Lucky" maybe viewed as "Ocean's Fourteen" to some people but I found this film to be vastly original even though treads through familiar territory. It has a lot of energy and spirit and it's damn good to have Steven Soderbergh back.