Lucky Number Slevin - 2006
For the first - oh - three quarters of this movie you are baffled with multiple story flashbacks, convergent plot lines and oddball characters galore. In an effort to be an American version of Lock, Stock, and two Smoking Barrels, Lucky Number Slevin succeeds on the merits of its all-star cast. Director Paul McGuigan uses a slick and style to deliver a film that is part gangster flick, part mystery and part suspense.
Slevin Kelivra (Josh Hartnett) has got to be the unluckiest guy in New York. In town to visit a friend after losing his apartment and girlfriend, he gets mugged and is relieved of his wallet. His fiend is nowhere to be found at the apartment and soon Slevin is pulled into the battle between two rival underworld chiefs. With wacky neighbor Lindsey (Lucy Liu), they set out to solve the mystery of the missing friend, get Slevin out of trouble, and stay one step ahead of the cops.
Lucky Number Slevin has some witty fun dialog in the tone of a Tarantino film (pre Kill Bill). And it is delivered by some of the best deliverers in the business, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, Danny Aiello. If these names don't get you in the door, then how about this: this movie looks awesome. Production design is by François Séguin, recently from The Greatest Game Ever Played and Shattered Glass. Check out the wallpaper throughout the movie (yea, I know, wallpaper). The movie oozes with style and visual appeal.
There is a hilarious scene where two tuffs from the Morgan Freeman gang come to collect Slevin for the boss. The two heavys (Sloe & Elvis) share this dialog with Slevin:
Elvis: [Grabs Slevin by the throat and moves him into the living room] The Boss wants to see you.
Slevin: Who?
Sloe: The Boss.
Slevin: Who's the Boss?
Sloe: The guy we work for. Sit
Slevin: [He attempts getting up but is kept down by Sloe] Look. I'm not the guy you're looking for. I don't live here.
Sloe: Yeah well you look like the guy who lives here.
Slevin: Man, you don't know what the guy who lives here looks like.
Elvis: What he means to say is that you look like you live here.
Sloe: Yeah, that's what I mean to say.
Many critics have given this movie a low rating because they knew they were being taken for a ride and didn't like it (here, here and here). I knew I was being taken for a ride, and I liked the ride.
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