10/07/06 Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin (2006), directed by Paul McGuigan

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

Here comes another one of those hipster gangster crime syndicate witty thrillers. Is that enough of a description...just think "Lock, Stock..." and "The Man Who Knew Too Little." OK, maybe not that big of a stretch, but it does fall smack dab in the middle of cool, but average. It seemed like it was a title that was panned (or at least overlooked too much) by critics, but it had tremendous star potential (with names like Morgan Freeman, Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, and Lucy Liu) and a great Scotch director in McGuigan (of "Gangster No.1" and "Wicker Park" fame). However, I think overall it came out too cool for its own good, but kept it entertaining throughout. Hartnett plays Slevin, whose mistaken identity for crime hooligan lands him right in the middle of a war being plotted by the city's two rival crime bosses...the Rabbi (Kingsley) and the Boss (Freeman). Both old men play it cool at bad guys with a sinister calm about them, and flexing their thug muscle through more hooligans and the occasional comic relief in inept hooliganism with henchmen Elvis and Sloe. Slevin's average joe day gets turned upside down when staying over at a friend's apartment, only to be roughed up and dragged into both crime bosses' lairs (executive buildings facing each other) in nothing more than his towel after showering (easy ladies). His wild day has him being beaten up, under constant surveillance by detectives (lead by Stanley Tucci), stumbling into love with Lindsey (Liu), playing motives against others, and pretty much getting in over his head. Then you throw stealthy hitman Mr. Goodkat (Willis) into the mix as assassin for both sides, and you have a veritable smorgasbord of suave gangster chic. Everyone's out for something, and no one is as they seem. While most of the attempts at surprising the audience with their plot-twists don't cash in, it's still an overall enjoyably violent caper. What starts off as more of a wacky & witty crime gone awry kind of story, the depths that each party is willing to go to for revenge and redemption gets pretty twisted. Plus, how can you get mad at such a clever title (involving your main character, whom I'm sure was not written with the intention of ever having it become the actual title of the movie)?! Really?

3 out of 5 stars