Lucky Number Slevin

It's kind of hard to believe that Pulp Fiction came out in 1994, and despite numerous attempts to do so, no other crime movie has been able to duplicate its success. It was a lightning in a bottle kind of moment, and one that I dont think will ever be repeated. Lucky Number Slevin is the latest movie to try to cash in on the smooth gangster/witty dialogue genre, and even though it doesn't come close to Tarantino's masterpiece, it's certainly entertaining in its own right. The movie has more twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan film festival, and the surprise ending isn't quite as surprising as it seems to think it is, but there's a great cast that's obviously having a lot of fun, and that fun comes through in the movie itself. Lucky Number Slevin delivers a good time, but not much more than that.

Our hero, the oddly-named Slevin (Josh Hartnett), is having a really bad day. Mere moments after arriving in New York to visit a friend, he is mugged and has his nose broken. Arriving at his friend's apartment, he finds the person he's looking for missing, but instead finds a pair of mobsters who have mistaken Slevin for his friend. It seems that the friend owes a large amount of money to a crime kingpin known simply as "The Boss" (Morgan Freeman), and now the gangsters have come to collect. Of course, Slevin knows absolutely nothing about what's going on, and there's no way he can come up with the money they're looking for. The Boss decides to give Slevin a chance to pay back the friend's debt by killing the son of his most hated rival and former partner in crime - a Jewish crime boss who calls himself "The Rabbi" (Ben Kingsley). Things become even more complicated when it turns out that Slevin's friend also has unfinished business with The Rabbi as well, and in order to get his goons off his back, Slevin has to come up with a large sum of money for him also. Throw in a hard-nosed detective (Stanley Tucci) who has been following our hero's trail ever since this situation started, a mysterious and deadly hitman known as Goodkat (Bruce Willis), and the innocent woman who lives in the apartment across the hall that gets wrapped up in it all (Lucy Liu), and you've got the makings for an enjoyable, if slight, comedy crime caper.

Lucky Number Slevin is a movie that thinks it's smarter than it actually is. It wastes little if no time in setting up its basic situation, and then spends the entire rest of its running time trying to throw you off, or surprise you with little plot twists and revelations that at least make sense. (A good thing, since the entire screenplay seems to be built around leading you one way, then suddenly pulling you off in another direction.) The truth is, anyone paying attention should be able to stay a step ahead of the movie. Yeah, there were some details that were foggy to me until they were revealed, but I was still able to figure out mostly what the seemingly unrelated opening moments had to do with the movie, and what role they would play in the end. The movie seems to delight in its own cunning and craftiness, but if you've already got it figured out, at least you can be entertained by the often very funny dialogue. Sure, the screenplay is not very original at its heart. All the characters are much too clever for their own good, and seem to spew forth zingy one liners like nobody's business. But, they're at least good zingy one liners for the most part. Besides, I've come to expect characters that talk like they learned English by reading a Pop Culture Dictionary in these kind of movies, so I'm used to it. There are also some clever and funny ideas found in the script by Jason Smilovic. I liked it how the two penthouses of the two crime lord rivals, The Boss and The Rabbi, face directly across the street from each other. This way, both men can spend most of their day staring and glaring at each other from their window. (They're both afraid to set foot outside, fear of what the other would do to them if they did.) The scene where Josh Hartnett and Lucy Liu's characters compare their knowledge of James Bond trivia made me smile as well. Besides, I don't think we're ever going to see Hartnett impersonate Sean Connery in a movie ever again.

A movie such as this lives and dies by the characters that inhabit it. They must be colorful, slightly off-kilter, and likeable despite the fact that they murder people for a living. Fortunately, Slevin has a large cast of enjoyable characters, as well as some strong performances to go with them. I'm still not quite convinced that Josh Hartnett has what it takes to be a leading man, but he holds his own for the most part, and makes for a good "everyman" character wrapped up in a seemingly-impossible situation. I also liked Morgan Freeman playing against type as the violent and cruel, yet still well spoken and strangely mild-mannered at times crime boss. As his rival, Ben Kingsley has a smaller role, and doesn't get as much of a chance to make an impression. But hey, it's nice to see him appearing in a semi-decent movie again after a series of cinematic train wrecks like Thunderbirds, A Sound of Thunder, and BloodRayne. Another actor playing against type in this film is Lucy Liu, who is sweet and innocent in the role of Slevin's only friend in an increasingly dangerous situation. It's a nice change of pace from her usual tough girl persona, and I hope she gets a chance to explore some other characters again, as she provides some sweet-natured comic relief to go along with all the criminals and murders. The only lead actor who failed to make any kind of impact on me was Bruce Willis. It's not because he's bad in the role, mind you, he's actually quite good. It's just that he's played this kind of strong, silent character before, and could do it in his sleep.

The cast and the entertaining dialogue certainly make the film watchable, but it just can't hide its faults. Aside from a constantly twisting plot that is surprisingly predictable, the other main fault with the storytelling is that it takes too long to reveal what the movie is truly about. Most of the film is made up of colorful characters spouting off colorful dialogue and one-liners, and then the true plot finally kicks in around the final half hour mark. It seems like a lot of set up, and very little substance. It's very entertaining set up, I'll admit, but I just wish it got to the point a little bit quicker. Also, as interesting as the characters are, we seem to learn very little about them during the course of the film. I would have liked it if the movie had gone into more detail in the past between The Boss and The Rabbi, and the events leading up to their current war with each other. The movie gives us the details, but it doesn't seem to be enough, especially since it plays somewhat of a large role in the story. (Larger than it may seem at first.)

So, even if films like Pulp Fiction remain at the top of the smart/witty crime movie heap, Lucky Number Slevin certainly holds your interest. It's just that the movie could have been even more, especially with some of the A-list actors it was able to attract. Your reaction to this movie will mostly likely depend on your tolerance for movies that keep on throwing curves at you, and if you're not burned out on twisty caper movies like this. Those who cannot stomach strong violence should probably steer clear, as there are a number of gruesome murders one after another early on, including one that hints at a child being shot in the back of the head. The movie may not be as smart as it thinks it is, but it made me laugh, and I was entertained. Heck, that's a lot more than I can say for just about every other comedy that's been given a major release in theaters this year so far. It may not be entirely memorable, but Lucky Number Slevin has enough going for it to be worth checking out at least once.

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