A heist movie with NASCAR, pageants, and pool of pig's feet: sound like a good idea? This is not a rhetorical question. Theoretically I could provide insight, but truthfully, after the analysis I am just going to deliver a verdict that is basically my number out of 10 answer to this question. Yes, there is going to be the rest of the review, but if you're deciding on whether to see Logan Lucky backtrack to sentence one. Your answer is more important than anything I have to offer.
Logan Lucky is an Ocean's with rednecks. Normally critics use comparisons of this format out of laziness. Movie is other movie, but with other stuff. Ingenious. I only stoop to this since Logan Lucky bludgeons you over the head with the blunt end of this premise and to ignore this fact is to be negligent. Steven Soderberg might have had déjà vu when he first read the script. An ensemble cast, long set up, the job, failure?, and, with the benefit of a flashback revealing new perspective, the sting. Ocean's and Logan Lucky are not similar because they are both heist films with the same director, it's because they have the same structure. The West Virginia vibe, a façade.
Jimmy Logan (Tatum) is latest recipient of the Logan curse. Although content to live simply (without cellphones), his life is threatened when ex-wife (Holmes) wants to move taking their daughter with her. Jimmy is unemployed and desperate. Auspiciously, Jimmy's recent construction job has allowed him intimate knowledge of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, including the subterranean network of pipes transporting cash. Jimmy enlists the help of his younger brother Clyde (Driver), convincing him to get incarcerated so Clyde can conspire with locked up explosives expert Joe Bang (Craig). Together with sister Mellie (Keough) and Joe's bumpkin brothers, the team hopes to break the pair out of prison, pull of the heist of the century, and return the pair to the prison unnoticed. It is a solid plan, but unexpected advances in construction prompts immediate action. The team is forced to give up or tackle the mark during a Memorial Weekend race, the grandest event of the year.
So the bluegrass rift is clearly a creation from someone who has only interacted with Boone Country through TV. Our protagonist is a down on his luck ex-football player with a bum leg, recently divorced, has a daughter in beauty pageants, a veteran brother, daisy duke wearing sister, and his favorite song is, of course, Country friggin Road. Clearly an exploration of the Appalachian experience this is not. Silliness abound, still Logan Lucky is a charmer. I say this knowing that there are those who will never fall for country charm.
Now let us look at the salespeople. With the possible exception Adam Driver, every actor here is clearly playing a part, but loving every minute. Authenticity is out the window, but the magnetism is everywhere. Hillary Swank shows up in the third act as an FBI agent, the closest thing we get to an antagonists, and even her exaggeratedly stern character is likable. Charming potato Channing Tatum has performed variations of this shtick successfully his whole career. Even country pioneer Dwight Yoakam gets in on the act as a warden maybe possibly perchance inspired by Cool Hand Luke. But Daniel Craig is king. He plays the anti-Bond. Totally unrefined and downright bubbly, he is clearly having more fun than any other cast member, maybe even most audiences. The scene in which this convict hick pauses the robbery to explain the chemistry of his explosions is the best of the movie.
I initially referred to the players as salespeople because such slickness aimed at amiability might be occasionally disconcerting, but possibly the only option for the material. The essence of Logan Luck is hockey beyond belief, but never is this pile of clichés painful. If there is anything more to enjoying Logan Lucky then the premise, its understanding the premise is a total fabrication. There is a line describing the events as "Ocean's 7-11." These characters might eat at 7-11, but to suggest this is more real than Ocean sophisticated team is ridiculous. This is a totally contrived fantasy world from people who watched too much Beverly Hillbillies. And I love it.
Logan Lucky is an Ocean's with rednecks. Normally critics use comparisons of this format out of laziness. Movie is other movie, but with other stuff. Ingenious. I only stoop to this since Logan Lucky bludgeons you over the head with the blunt end of this premise and to ignore this fact is to be negligent. Steven Soderberg might have had déjà vu when he first read the script. An ensemble cast, long set up, the job, failure?, and, with the benefit of a flashback revealing new perspective, the sting. Ocean's and Logan Lucky are not similar because they are both heist films with the same director, it's because they have the same structure. The West Virginia vibe, a façade.
Jimmy Logan (Tatum) is latest recipient of the Logan curse. Although content to live simply (without cellphones), his life is threatened when ex-wife (Holmes) wants to move taking their daughter with her. Jimmy is unemployed and desperate. Auspiciously, Jimmy's recent construction job has allowed him intimate knowledge of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, including the subterranean network of pipes transporting cash. Jimmy enlists the help of his younger brother Clyde (Driver), convincing him to get incarcerated so Clyde can conspire with locked up explosives expert Joe Bang (Craig). Together with sister Mellie (Keough) and Joe's bumpkin brothers, the team hopes to break the pair out of prison, pull of the heist of the century, and return the pair to the prison unnoticed. It is a solid plan, but unexpected advances in construction prompts immediate action. The team is forced to give up or tackle the mark during a Memorial Weekend race, the grandest event of the year.
So the bluegrass rift is clearly a creation from someone who has only interacted with Boone Country through TV. Our protagonist is a down on his luck ex-football player with a bum leg, recently divorced, has a daughter in beauty pageants, a veteran brother, daisy duke wearing sister, and his favorite song is, of course, Country friggin Road. Clearly an exploration of the Appalachian experience this is not. Silliness abound, still Logan Lucky is a charmer. I say this knowing that there are those who will never fall for country charm.
Now let us look at the salespeople. With the possible exception Adam Driver, every actor here is clearly playing a part, but loving every minute. Authenticity is out the window, but the magnetism is everywhere. Hillary Swank shows up in the third act as an FBI agent, the closest thing we get to an antagonists, and even her exaggeratedly stern character is likable. Charming potato Channing Tatum has performed variations of this shtick successfully his whole career. Even country pioneer Dwight Yoakam gets in on the act as a warden maybe possibly perchance inspired by Cool Hand Luke. But Daniel Craig is king. He plays the anti-Bond. Totally unrefined and downright bubbly, he is clearly having more fun than any other cast member, maybe even most audiences. The scene in which this convict hick pauses the robbery to explain the chemistry of his explosions is the best of the movie.
I initially referred to the players as salespeople because such slickness aimed at amiability might be occasionally disconcerting, but possibly the only option for the material. The essence of Logan Luck is hockey beyond belief, but never is this pile of clichés painful. If there is anything more to enjoying Logan Lucky then the premise, its understanding the premise is a total fabrication. There is a line describing the events as "Ocean's 7-11." These characters might eat at 7-11, but to suggest this is more real than Ocean sophisticated team is ridiculous. This is a totally contrived fantasy world from people who watched too much Beverly Hillbillies. And I love it.
Tell Your Friends