Logan Lucky Review – An All Star Cast Puts A Spin on The Art of The Heist

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Category: Film

Published on Saturday, 19 August 2017 12:27

Written by Janet Walker

Logan Lucky, from Bleecker Street Media and FilmNation Entertainment, present a fresh, innovated, fast action heist film pitting the simpletons against impossible to breech odds at every level, with an all-star cast bringing solid performances.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Logan Lucky stars Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Jack Quaid, Brian Gleeson, Katie Holmes, Hillary Swank, Katherine Waterston, Macon Blair, David Denman, Seth MacFarlance, Charles Halford, Dwight Yoakam, LeAnn Rimes, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Sebastian Stan, and Farrah Mackenzie as Sadie Logan. Logan Lucky was written by Rebecca Blunt.

Logan Lucky opens with Almost Heaven, by the late John Denver playing through the opening credits and long overhead shots of the West Virginia countryside, mountains until the camera settles on Jimmy Logan, played by Channing Tatum, fixing his broken down rust bucket of a truck, with his daughter, Sadie, played by Farrah MacKenzie, his crew chief.

Heading out for Ice cream we find that Sadie, maybe all of seven, is told she has to watch her calories as she has a pageant coming up. Jimmy, divorced from Bobbie Jo, played by Katie Holmes, she adds insult to injury and tell him that she and Moody, played by David Denman, a skirt chasing successful car salesman, is opening a new dealership and they are moving.

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Drinking off the encounter with his ex, Jimmy heads over to the local bar run by Clyde Logan, a war hero who lost his arm in battle, the two brothers are bemoaning their fate, Jimmy just lost his job and his ex is taking his little girl away, when three Brits come in, with Max Chilblain, played by Seth MacFarlane, a British racecar sponsor comes in joking about a "one-armed bartender."

Soon  a melee breaks out, just a typical night at the local roadhouse bar in West Virginia.

Jimmy, who considers himself the brains of the bunch, which includes Millie, played by Riley Keough, the local beautician and Aunt to Sadie, our pageant girl, and Clyde who has proven his skills, has worked out a plan to make some cool cash without anyone being any the wiser.

Needing a few others to help him, he pitches the plan to Clyde and the two of them set out to find the best in the business which takes them to meet Joe Bang, a redneck, incarcerated Daniel Craig.

Soon the plan is taking shape and Bang's brothers Fish, played by Jack Quaid, and Sam, played by Brain Gleeson, who are as a bout as illiterate as they come with actually being illiterate.

Born as everyone knowns the Logan Curse, the Logan's want more. Jimmy wants his daughter closer, Clyde wants a new arm, a better bar, and Millie, content, wouldn't mind a better car and a shop of her own. Wishes take money; and when your born with three strikes against you, shaking off the curse is difficult.

That all is about to change as the plan to rob the highly guarded, vacuumed sealed, impossible to breech cash delivery system at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on what happens to be the largest race of the season the Coco-Cola 500, firms up with instructions given on a need to know, so as not to confuse anyone with more than two details, each group manages to work out his or her part.

A red neck romp, Logan Lucky is a fun film with familiar faces, an all-star cast in vastly different roles than one is accustomed, fast cars, mocking limited thinkers, those in authority who believe they have every angle figured out. I enjoyed the it.

Lucky Logan is a solid bet. An against the odds film it pits the genuinely good guys, who are always coming up short, as society has already marked them as easy, simple targets to keep down.

With so many well-known talents, one can say the director, Steven Soderbergh, who also directed another high-tech heist film, Ocean's 11, 12, 13 and Magic Mike,  put the word out and folks agreed. The casting is so against type in some cases, it is brilliant to see the adjustments.

None more so than Daniel Craig and I guess one can say, the suit really does make the man and in this suit strips become him, and he was able to pull off his role as Joe Bang which is a deep departure from anything he has ever done.  

Channing Tatum and Adam Driver, playing simpletons, bounce off each other and create genuine on-screen chemistry.

Jack Quaid, who played Fish, was also an interesting character, playing dumb really made him stand out and create a memorable performance.

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An interesting element here, and one would guess in "real" life, is the art of innovation. Necessity is the mother of all inventions and in a world where poverty runs deep, our boys were able to find substitutes for every test. The All American roaches are exceptionally special.   

Lucky Logan takes the pole at the box office, with actual NASCAR racers, the opening flag, something for everyone. See it first.

Lucky Logan opens August 18, 2017. It is playing in theaters everywhere.