Movie Breakdown: Logan Lucky

Pre-Screening Stance:

Steven Soderbergh isn’t so good at being “retired” or whatever, so he’s gone and directed Logan Lucky.  The movie looks like a hillbilly version of Ocean’s 11, so I don’t really have any choice but to be excited about it.

Post-Screening Ramble:

As expected, Logan Lucky is essentially Steven Soderbergh’s countrified take on his own Ocean’s 11.  It doesn’t take place in a fancy casino in shiny Las Vegas.  It’s set in rural West Virginia and the plan is to knock over the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.  There’s music by John Denver, not Frank Sinatra.  There are no criminal masterminds with wildly tricksy plans.  There’s just some some regular people with an accidental advantage that may make them rich.  The characters aren’t charming or sophisticated like George Clooney’s Danny Ocean, they’re more loveably goofy like Casey Affleck’s and Scott Caan’s Malloy brothers.  Hell, there’s even a moment where the heist gets referred to as Ocean’s 7-11, so if that doesn’t really drive home what Soderbergh has done here, then I don’t know what will.  This leaves just one question, is this backwoods remake of sorts worth your time?  Yes.  So much yes.  It’s a really funny, engaging effort that’s surprisingly clever, and even though I’m not sure at all why Soderbergh rolled out of his semi-retirement to do this movie, I’m really happy that he did.  Maybe he should do alternate takes on all of his films.

See Logan Lucky, if only so that you can watch Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and Daniel Craig speak with a thick drawl.

One Last Thought:

Daniel Craig is so damn good as the smarmy Joe Bang that it actually bummed me out to hear that he’s going to do another Bond film.  I really think it would be fun to watch him take on some lighthearted roles for a few years.