Review of Logan Lucky (2017) by Vinko T — 06 Nov 2017

Logan Lucky is basically Oceans 11 with a redneck re-skin. Now saying that is necessarily not a bad thing. It's been 10 years since we've seen a Soderberg ensemble heist film. This film contains all the beats that made the Oceans franchise so re-watchable. Setups and payoffs, clever editing and double plays that throw off the viewer.

When I saw the trailer for this film, I was getting a Masterminds vibe. Hillbillies coming together to perform a heist. Unlike Masterminds, Lucky doesn't fall flat in the second half. The humor is not ridiculous or over the top like Masterminds it's subtle.

The story, the Logan Bros plan to rob the charlotte motor speedway. One of the brothers, Tatum got to understand how the speedway uses pipelines to store their money. The Logan bros are well known around town as dimwits. So with the help of their sister (who could easily be mistaken for Daisy Duke), two dim witted brothers, along with their oldest who just happen to be an ex-con, Joe Bang. Joe Bang is a demolition expert, redneck who is played brilliantly by Daniel Craig. It's always great to see Bond actors play different characters. So it's very interesting to see the actor trade in a fancy suit for hillbilly attire. Craig's character is very eccentric. Steals every scene he is in.

My only gripe with this film is the idea of an ensemble cast and, I don't mean the characters who are performing the heist but the secondary characters. Katherine Waterston, Sebastian Stan didn't really add much character for me to become invested in them. Waterston is a nurse who is a high school colleague of Tatum's character. I felt that Seth Macfarlane was overdoing the British investor for Sebastian Stan who only had a couple scenes that were less than a minute. Hilary Swank is introduced toward the end of the film. However, Dwight Yoakam was enjoyable as the dumb warden. In the film, in order to get help from Joe Bang. The bros must slip him out by having a prison riot staged. Their is a funny scene between the warden and inmates negotiating over the seasons of Game of Thrones the inmates should get. However what makes his character very funny, is the fact that he won't report the riot or fire to the local authorities, out of fear of publicity and weakness. It's funny because as a C.O. there are stories of wardens getting fired due to a report of security issues. So it's funny that the Warden is very hesitant to report the prison riot.

Overall, it's an enjoyable film. Once the Soderberg heist tricks are revealed, you'll definitely get the Ocean's vibe. For two brothers who are considered the village idiots to pull off the heist. Just proves that they weren't dumb at all.