Logan Lucky (2017) – Film Review
“It’s Ocean’s 7/11” says one character during this fun heist comedy flick – an apt description of a two hours spent watching Logan Lucky.
Seth McFarlane turns up and does a shoddy British accent as a seedy NASCAR race team owner while Daniel Craig has an eye popping supporting role as an explosives expert and these are just two of the characters surrounding main stars Channing Tatum and Adam Driver as brothers Jimmy and Clyde Logan.
Together with Riley Keogh as Mellie Logan, their sister, they are the unlucky Logan family, blue collar workers from West Virginia.
Jimmy is trying to juggle family visits with his young daughter, whom he dotes on, with ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) about to take them away to another state to live.
When Jimmy is laid off from his contract construction work at the Charlotte Motor Speedway due to pre-existing limp due to liability issues he formulates a plan to steal money from the Speedway during the forthcoming Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race based on his knowledge of the Speedway’s underground system for moving money from concession stands.
He enlists the help of Jimmy and Mellie, plus safecracker Joe Bang (Craig), and Bang’s two brothers Sam and Fish.
The only problem is Bang is still in jail for a previous job, so they must figure out a way to break him out and put him back in jail before people notice he’s gone.
In the middle of all this is another John Denver song which serves as the heart of the piece. John Denver songs have shown up this year in Free Fire and Alien: Covenant and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” shows up here but this time the song feels much more at home in the setting.
Ocean’s 11 influences Logan Lucky
Logan Lucky is slow at times and it’ll be fairly lazy to say if you liked the Ocean’s films you might like this one.
It’s filled with nice touches, and some quirky moments though – and it might lack tension but the humour is ever present and additional cameos by Katherine Waterston and Hilary Swank give the story a little more depth.
It remains fairly flimsy entertainment with a twist towards the end but a very likeable return to films, however brief it may end up being, for Steven Soderbergh. I certainly ended up smiling through most of it.
In a weekend that includes similarly flimsy fayre for Tom Cruise in American Made and also a weighty drama in Detroit there’s plenty to choose from in terms of films to watch.
Logan Lucky (12A; infrequent strong language, moderate violence; 119 minutes)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast includes: Katherine Waterston, Adam Driver, Sebastian Stan, Daniel Craig, Channing Tatum, Riley Keough
Summary: LOGAN LUCKY is a US heist comedy in which two brothers devise an elaborate plan to steal the weekend cash takings from the Charlotte Motor Speedway complex during the annual Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race.
Rating: **** (Ocean’s 11 meets Fargo, a warm heist comedy)