Directed by: Paul McGuian
Written by: Jason Smilovic
Review by: Alex Peyton
Lucky Number Slevin is a gangster movie in the vein of The Usual Suspects with an excellent ensemble cast; Josh Hartnett is supported by the likes of Morgan Freeman, (Sir) Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, and Lucy Liu.
The film begins with the death of two bookies, the theft of their ledgers, and a sniper gunning down a young man in front of his bodyguards, providing an ample dose of violence not seen again until much later in the film. A wheelchair-bound Bruce Willis—sporting bushy hair and a large moustache—explains to an unnamed man about a fixed horse race in the 1970s that would lead to the death of an entire family and how that would be the catalyst for a Kansas City Shuffle.
Hartnett stars as Slevin Kevalha, who finds himself in a bad case of mistaken identity courtesy of his mysteriously absent friend Nick Fisher. Despite his protests, two thugs drag him to see ‘The Boss’ (Freeman) to whom his friend owes some money. Lacking the funds to pay off such a debt, he is forced to plan the death of the son of the Boss’s rival and former friend ‘The Rabbi’ (Kingsley) in retaliation for the murder of his own son. Things then become complicated as ‘The Rabbi’ sends for him to pay off a debt, and the mysterious Mr Good Cat (Willis) is seen in the company of both gangsters, seemingly manipulating the situation. Coupled with the attentions of Fisher’s neighbour, Lindsey (Liu), and the Police Detective Brikowski (Tucci), the situation swiftly becomes an increasingly tangled web of murder, deception and revenge, which leads to the inevitable bloodbath.
This film hinges what may be the greatest performance by Hartnett to date. The other performances are uniformly decent, though no one actor shines above the rest. Paul McGuian’s direction is solid. He paces the film well, never slowing down or letting the audience get bored. The direction by Paul McGuigan serves the film well, with appropriate use of techniques that are not an attempt to show off. It moves along at fast pace, never slowing down to a point that you get bored.
However, there are a few inconsistencies in the film’s plot, and the ending falls into place far too neatly. Overall, Lucky Number Slevin lacks the impact of the Usual Suspects, which it so obviously attempts to emulate. Don’t expect to see this film winning any Oscars, as it’s not the classic it hopes to be, but it is a slick, stylish, enjoyable film. The dialogue is snappy, the love story is believable, and the film serves to entertain.