LOGAN LUCKY 3 stars Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Riley Keough; PG-13 (language and some crude comments); in general release
If the Oceans Eleven movies left you with the urge to upgrade your wardrobe, Logan Lucky might inspire a day at the races.
For Logan Lucky, director Steven Soderbergh has swapped George Clooney, Brad Pitt and their expensive suits for Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and some hayseed accents out of O, Brother, Where Art Thou? for a caper movie that refers to itself as Oceans 7-11.
Tatum and Driver play Jimmy and Clyde Logan, a pair of small-town, blue-collar brothers who team up with an incarcerated safe-cracker, their fast-driving little sister, and a cast of misfits to rob a state-of-the-art NASCAR venue.
Jimmy is out of work thanks to a bum knee, and struggling to keep partial custody of his daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie), who is about to move out of state with Jimmys ex-wife, Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes). Clyde runs the local bar, reflecting on his multiple tours in Iraq that robbed him of half an arm while periodically teaming up with his brother to confront hothead out-of-town visitors like British race sponsor Max Chilblain (Seth MacFarlane).
Desperate to improve their circumstances, the brothers decide to raid the vault of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a NASCAR venue so vast it practically operates as its own city. To succeed, they enlist their younger sister Mellie (Riley Keough) and an imprisoned safe-cracker named Joe Bang (Daniel Craig). Since Bang isnt due for release until well after the best window for the job, Clyde gets himself thrown behind bars with Joe as part of an elaborate ruse to spring him the day of the heist.
Logan Lucky plays out like a redneck Oceans Eleven in most every sense, sending up Deep South stereotypes and weaving a nuanced, intricate plot that features multiple-layered plans and blink-and-you-miss-them clues. Soderberghs trademark slick style is in full play, and David Holmes also returns to augment a fantastic soundtrack that adjusts for Logan Luckys good old boy Dukes of Hazzard aesthetic.
Tatum more or less acts as the heart of the film hes pretty much the Danny Ocean of the operation and Logan Lucky opens with a charming scene between him and his daughter that waxes philosophical on the work of John Denver. But Logan Luckys most entertaining element is watching Driver and Craigs interpretations of their characters. Clyde feels like he was lifted from a Cohen brothers film, and Craigs transition to a brilliant but foolish West Virginia criminal will be a joy for anyone who has grown used to his recent James Bond performances.
The extensive cast is packed with familiar faces. Sebastian Stan and Hilary Swank appear in supporting roles as Chilblains driver and as the FBI agent assigned to investigate the break-in, respectively, and poor David Denman is once again cast as the other man as car sales kingpin Moody Chapman, Bobbie Jos new husband. Country fans may also spot Dwight Yoakam in a cameo as Bangs prison warden, and Katherine Waterston of the recent Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fame even turns up as a mobile-blood-bank-driving love interest for Jimmy.
All the fun could be tightened up a bit, and Logan Lucky does drag in spots, but overall Soderberghs effort is a fun and entertaining offbeat riff on the caper movies hes offered up in the past.
Logan Lucky is rated PG-13 for language and some crude comments; running time: 119 minutes.
If the Oceans Eleven movies left you with the urge to upgrade your wardrobe, Logan Lucky might inspire a day at the races.
For Logan Lucky, director Steven Soderbergh has swapped George Clooney, Brad Pitt and their expensive suits for Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and some hayseed accents out of O, Brother, Where Art Thou? for a caper movie that refers to itself as Oceans 7-11.
Tatum and Driver play Jimmy and Clyde Logan, a pair of small-town, blue-collar brothers who team up with an incarcerated safe-cracker, their fast-driving little sister, and a cast of misfits to rob a state-of-the-art NASCAR venue.
Jimmy is out of work thanks to a bum knee, and struggling to keep partial custody of his daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie), who is about to move out of state with Jimmys ex-wife, Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes). Clyde runs the local bar, reflecting on his multiple tours in Iraq that robbed him of half an arm while periodically teaming up with his brother to confront hothead out-of-town visitors like British race sponsor Max Chilblain (Seth MacFarlane).
Desperate to improve their circumstances, the brothers decide to raid the vault of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a NASCAR venue so vast it practically operates as its own city. To succeed, they enlist their younger sister Mellie (Riley Keough) and an imprisoned safe-cracker named Joe Bang (Daniel Craig). Since Bang isnt due for release until well after the best window for the job, Clyde gets himself thrown behind bars with Joe as part of an elaborate ruse to spring him the day of the heist.
Logan Lucky plays out like a redneck Oceans Eleven in most every sense, sending up Deep South stereotypes and weaving a nuanced, intricate plot that features multiple-layered plans and blink-and-you-miss-them clues. Soderberghs trademark slick style is in full play, and David Holmes also returns to augment a fantastic soundtrack that adjusts for Logan Luckys good old boy Dukes of Hazzard aesthetic.
Tatum more or less acts as the heart of the film hes pretty much the Danny Ocean of the operation and Logan Lucky opens with a charming scene between him and his daughter that waxes philosophical on the work of John Denver. But Logan Luckys most entertaining element is watching Driver and Craigs interpretations of their characters. Clyde feels like he was lifted from a Cohen brothers film, and Craigs transition to a brilliant but foolish West Virginia criminal will be a joy for anyone who has grown used to his recent James Bond performances.
The extensive cast is packed with familiar faces. Sebastian Stan and Hilary Swank appear in supporting roles as Chilblains driver and as the FBI agent assigned to investigate the break-in, respectively, and poor David Denman is once again cast as the other man as car sales kingpin Moody Chapman, Bobbie Jos new husband. Country fans may also spot Dwight Yoakam in a cameo as Bangs prison warden, and Katherine Waterston of the recent Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fame even turns up as a mobile-blood-bank-driving love interest for Jimmy.
All the fun could be tightened up a bit, and Logan Lucky does drag in spots, but overall Soderberghs effort is a fun and entertaining offbeat riff on the caper movies hes offered up in the past.
Logan Lucky is rated PG-13 for language and some crude comments; running time: 119 minutes.
