Review of LOGAN LUCKY: Heist by Hicks

September 16, 2017

"Logan Lucky" is director Steven Soderbergh's comeback film since he temporarily "retired" from feature films last 2103 with "Side Effects" (MY REVIEW). The frenetic trailer made sure we are reminded us that he was the director of "Oceans 11" (2001) and its two sequels (2004 and 2007). This new film is clearly going to be a fun caper flick like those three were.

Unemployed father Jimmy Logan and his one-armed brother Clyde decide to stage an ambitious heist of the vault in the Charlotte Motor Speedway for much their needed cash. They conscript the services of convicted robber-explosives expert Joe Bang and his techie redneck brothers Fish and Sam for their expertise. However, they somehow have to spring Joe out of the penitentiary first before they can pull off their elaborate plans.

Because of the very rustic American flavor of life in rural West Virginia, this joyride of a film may not be that easy to get into at the start. There were also many characters involved, all with their thick accents, so it be confusing. However, once you get into that groove of Soderberg's style with this one and what he wanted to do, it does become engaging. The execution of the heist proper was tense, though it ended oddly. Surprisingly, the aftermath in Act 3 gives it heart. 

Channing Tatum looks heftier and more mature here as Jimmy Logan. He is an ex-football player, career cut short by a football injury. He is now a down-and-out father who desperately wants keep his close ties with his cute little daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie), even when he was already divorced from her mother Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes). This family dynamic gives the film its emotional core.

Adam Driver plays his stoic bartender brother Clyde. He lost his arm during his tour of dury as soldier in Iraq, so he currently wears a prosthetic arm. Driver seemed to only have one stern look on his face the whole film. Riley Keough played their accomplice sister Mellie, who was one mean, fast driver despite what her big hair and thick make-up would suggest.

The biggest transformation seen in this film is that by current James Bond himself Daniel Craig. Craig sports a short shock of platinum blonde hair and spouts an outrageously over-the-top accent to create a totally new character previously unseen from him. The trailer hilariously indicates Craig's name with the word "Introducing." How you like Craig's unconventional casting as this redneck bloke will most likely dictate how you like the film as a whole. It's one of those polarizing love-it-or hate-it things.

Bang's deceptively dimwitted brothers were played by up-and-coming second-generation actors Jack Quaid (son of Dennis) and Brian Gleeson (son of Brendan).

There are other minor characters who figure in the story, all played by name actors as well. Katherine Waterston played Sylvia Harrison, Jimmy's classmate back in high school who now runs a volunteer mobile clinic that runs on donations. Country music star Dwight Yoakam played Warden Burns, who would deny anything wrong that happened in his jail. 

An unrecognizable Seth McFarlane played a very annoying businessman named Max Chilblain, a minor comic villain in the story. Sebastian Stan played NASCAR champion Dayton White, a paragon of clean living. In the final act, Oscar-winner Hillary Swank makes a late appearance as Officer Sarah Grayson, who led the investigation of the heist.

The appreciation of this film depends on how you appreciate its redneck humor. There was random Game of Thrones joke thrown in there somewhere that felt out of place. The heist plot was straightforward enough, but Soderbergh and his mysterious new scriptwriter Rebecca Blunt had to stuff the film with all of these small supporting characters with sub-stories which may or may not go anywhere. 

This was not as slick or smooth as the Ocean's capers, but for me, it was still fun to watch unfold. We all like it when a plan comes together, but there were unbelievable scenes which would need you to suspend disbelief or overlook logic to get through them. 7/10.