Logan Lucky plays like the ideal power fantasy for anyone left behind by the American Dream. It’s about people, normal working people, who because of the systems they can't control and other people they can’t control, can’t catch a break, and ultimately decide to make a break for themselves. That makes it immediately more interesting than most anti hero stories. Whereas an anti hero such as the Batman fights a vengeful battle, transferring into a necessary one as the crime of his city becomes wilder and wilder, Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) is just a man who needs the money. He needs to steal because he almost deserves too. That’s the most interesting part of this movie. The inherent likability of a man that is willing to commit a crime, because he deserves too. There’s a sadness underlying even the most enthusiastically funny parts of Logan Lucky because of this too, and that sadness turns out to be one of the most infectious tonal desserts of the summer. There’s nothing more delectable than the excruciating pain underlying the most funny of situations. Adam Driver as Jimmy’s brother is obsessed with a “Logan Family Curse,” which amounts to just a string of bad luck and an inability to catch a break in the American system. When Jimmy is fired, he decides he’s going to take his own slice of the pie and hires his brother, sister (Riley Keough) and an incarcerated criminal by the name of Joe Bang (a wonderful Daniel Craig) to rob the largest race of the year at a speedway near them. What results is a hilarious crime thriller yet again underlined by the disparity of the characters situation. And to be honest, that's as far as Logan Lucky goes. The movie shows up so effortlessly, as expected with its writer/director Steven Soderbergh, that it's poppy and cheery tone seems to only accentuate the sadness at the center. It's almost as if the movie, much like American culture wants to quite intentionally ignore the deep pain it has ultimately caused for these characters and the movie is all the better for it. Soderbergh and his cast and crew are good enough in this too that they can pull off that nonchalant attitude. As sad as they are, it's damn entertaining to watch everything that happens when these smarter than they look ( that includes Soderbergh) hooligans get going, with Soderbergh bringing in huge talent like Hillary Swank, Katherine Waterston, and Seth MacFarlane to simply play ten minute bit parts. Tatum, Driver, Keough and Craig are the real stars of the show though and much like everything else in the movie, they can’t help but hold themselves to an almost effortless standard, especially Tatum, who again, really needs more comedic material. Logan Lucky is a movie about the American dream and the beautiful catharsis and sickening commerce that it can generate. It's about family, surviving, corporate double dealing, hot chicks and badass cars. Logan Lucky is a great film and it deserves attention. Logan Lucky gets a 9 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |