Logan Lucky is not as intriguing as Sex, Lies, and Videotape, or as suave as the Ocean’s Trilogy, or even as gritty as Traffic, but the film has the markings of ‘typical Soderbergh’ pasted all over it.
There’s the humour, which ebbs and flows as a seemingly incompetent bunch of people attempt to organise a robbery. There’s also the regular scenes of obfuscation thrown in there to veer the viewer off course.
Between all this, is the talk of a family curse that haunts the unlucky Logans, and the story arc of a father-daughter bond that may or may not hinge on a children’s beauty pageant.
Channing Tatum plays Jimmy Logan, a once-gifted college football star whose dreams were cut short by an unfortunate injury; he now works as a construction worker at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Adam Driver plays Jimmy’s brother, Clyde, a war veteran turned bartender who lost half his arm in Iraq.
Set in Charlotte, North Carolina, the film does play a little into the hands of the dim-witted redneck stereotype, but pokes fun at itself constantly and keeps things light. When Jimmy is laid off due to liability issues, he decides to use his knowledge of the Speedway’s complex pneumatic tube system for moving money to his own advantage. He convinces his brother, Clyde, and sister, Mellie (who, with her expert understanding of cars act as a sort of getaway driver) to join forces with him on the heist. Joining the trio is, Joe Bang (a felon with a penchant for successfully breaching high-security safes), and the latter’s two dense brothers, Sam and Fish.
While Tatum and Driver are suited to their roles and play them rather believably, it is the supporting cast of Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane & Co. that keeps you in splits.
Logan Lucky, much like its setting, is slow to get going. But once you give it time, the takeaway is more than just your run-of-the-mill staged robbery film.
Film: Logan Lucky
Mrinal Rajaram
Director : Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Seth MacFarlane
Rating: 3.5/5