LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN

“Lucky Number Slevin” splashes its violence across the screen as if each moment of bloodletting, torture and murder were a money shot. Little is left to the imagination except trying to figure out the convoluted elliptical plot about two criminal kingpins trying to outdo each other and the poor schlub caught in the crossfire because he is mistaken for a welcher who left town. Then there’s that guy who gets offed at the airport by a hit man called Goodkat (Bruce Willis).  He has a reputation for being everywhere at once  and nowhere to be found like author Frederick Forsyth’s ubiquitous Jackal.

Back to the schlub: Logic dictates that Josh Harnett’s Slevin Kelevra is house sitting for the guy who gets killed by Goodkat. As a result he’s mistaken for ‘Nick’ and is carted off to see The Boss (Morgan Freeman) to repay Nick’s debt. Slevin is told he can work off the debt if he kills somebody. That somebody turns out to be the son of his adversary, The Rabbi (Ben Kinglsley) - who actually turns out to be rabbi - A very Bad Rabbi! The Rabbi then hauls Slevin in to make a counter offer. Slevin must then devise a way to play the bad guys off against each other to stay alive. In comes Goodkat whose loyalty is suspect. In between getting batted around Slevin falls for ‘Nick’s next door neighbor Lindsey, a coroner who examines cadavers for Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) who’s onto Slevin for all the wrong reasons. Almost everyone in writer Jason Similovic’s and Irish director gone Hollywood Paul McGuigan’s stew of a movie has something to do with a horse race, the rumor that drove down the odds on a long shot and the man brutally murdered for spreading the rumor, most of which is revealed in flashback early on. Sound confusing? It’s intentional. So much so the filmmakers felt the need to fill in the holes in the story at the end of the film.

Trying to piece this puzzle of a movie together is fun. There are a few laughs generated by Slevin’s seemingly naïve sense of his predicament. Unfortunately the violence, sometimes played for a laugh, is more squeamish than funny. The influences are obvious: Quentin Tarantino - Guy Ritchie. But “Lucky Number Slevin” doesn’t have the character development that characterizes Tarantino’s few films, nor the humor of Ritchie’s. Less obvious is a tip of the hat to Luc Besson. One need only think of what a sequel to “The Professional” might be like.  Once you it and “Lucky Number Slevin” you might catch my drift.

The Bottom Line: If you like Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsley and have a strong stomach, “Lucky Number Slevin” might be worth your while. Stanley Tucci is excellent as always, and Josh Harnett and Lucy Liu do have some chemistry together. But they’ve all been in better films.

                                                                                                                      Copyright 2006

 

 

See the following and compare

“Reservoir Dogs” (1992) - Quentin Tarantino’s feature directorial debut still bristles with excitement thanks to great performances, crisp dialogue and a strong narrative about a jewel heist gone bad. It’s odd mixture of humor and violence has not dated. With Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Chris Penn, and 1940’s tough guy Lawrence Tierney.

“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels” (1998) -  Dir, Guy Ritchie. Two antique rifles are at the center of a series of seemingly unrelated coincidences that determine the fates of a bunch of criminals, pro and amateur alike with each trying to rip off the other.

“The Professional” (1994) - Dir. Luc Besson: Natalie Portman plays a waif who comes under the protection of professional hit man Jean Reno. With strong support from Danny Aiello and Gary Oldman. A one of a kind movie that people either loved or hated. 

Another film with Josh Harnett and directed by John McGuigan

“Wicker Park” (2004) - Harnett finds sees a woman leaving a restaurant who he believes is Lisa,  the lover  who mysteriously disappeared from his life two years earlier. His obsessive search for her leads him to another Lisa. More sinister than you’d have believed by the trailers but it’s not a thriller.  Like “Lucky Number Slevin,” nothing is what it appears to be. Matthew Illard has a chance to show his acting chops as the best friend.