Review – Logan Lucky
Director Steven Soderbergh returns to the big screen after a short retirement with Logan Lucky, a film that can best be described as hillbilly Ocean’s 11 (2001), or, as one character says in the movie, “Ocean’s 7-11“. Soderbergh shows why he is a legend with a wildly entertaining, twisty, fun movie that proves Soderbergh is still at the top of his game.
After getting fired from his construction job for liability reasons, Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) asks his brother Clyde (Adam Driver) to assist him in a heist during the biggest NASCAR event in the world. The two can’t do the heist alone, however, and look for help in the form of Joe Bang (Daniel Craig), an incarcerated master of explosives. They create a team and a loose plan to accomplish this heist and not get caught.
Much like Danny Ocean in Ocean’s 11, Jimmy Logan has a plan that needs to go perfectly. Everything needs to be executed to perfection, or else the plan will fail. I have a feeling this is how Soderbergh runs his film sets when making a movie, especially here in Logan Lucky. Soderbergh pulls out all of his tricks here, giving us a film with great visuals, a tricky story that skewers with our sense of time, hilarious comedy, and wonderful performances. Soderbergh really shows his knowledge of cinema with his techniques and his genre combinations. This is a heist film, buddy comedy, and family drama all rolled into one. It might front as a hick-comedy-caper, but at it’s core, the movie about a man who loves his daughter and wants to do anything and everything for her and Soderbergh hammers that point home. He fleshes out his characters so they are all unique and interesting in their own way and gets the best performances he can from his cast. Logan Lucky is further proof that Soderbergh is one of the best director’s of our generation.
Soderbergh has always been an actor’s director, always getting sensational performances from all of his actors, whether it is an Oscar winner, a young Hollywood stud, or an unknown, every performance in a Soderbergh production is a good performance. Channing Tatum is becoming Soderbergh’s new muse as of late, starring in Magic Mike (2012), Side Effects (2013), and now here. Soderbergh really expands Tatum’s range as an actor. He puts him in performances he doesn’t usually do and pushes him to become these unique and weird characters. Tatum portrays Jimmy as a kind-hearted, simple man who loves his daughter and will do anything, like commit a robbery, in order to see her, be with her, and make her happy. There is a desperation to Jimmy that makes us sympathize for him, even if he is a criminal. We understand his motivations and Tatum makes us feel for him. I loved Tatum’s performance here and think he can truly be considered one of the great actors we have working today.
The supporting cast is sensational. Driver continues his rise to stardom as Jimmy’s one-armed brother Clyde. He’s so dimwitted and straight-laced you can’t help but laugh at his flat sense of humor. Daniel Craig has the most fun I’ve ever seen him have in a performance unlike anything he’s ever done. Indie darling Riley Keough is a delight once again, Farrah Mackenzie is adorable as Jimmy’s daughter, and Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson are scene stealers as Joe’s crafty, yet mildly stupid brothers.
Logan Lucky is a true testament to Steven Soderbergh as a director. He has come out of retirement and made a multi-genre, hilarious, fun caper that features great writing, acting, and directing. I had a ball in this movie and we are lucky to have Soderbergh back behind the camera.
Did you see Logan Lucky? What did you think? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.