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Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

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5 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Scottish filmmaker McGuigan follows up his vapid remake of ‘L’Appartement’ with another slick, hollow exercise in cinematic sleight of hand that mixes ‘The Sting’ with ‘The Usual Suspects’ to no great effect. Purposely convoluted and needlessly violent, this bizarrely titled thriller revolves around an apparent case of mistaken identity as Josh Hartnett’s Slevin is dragged from a friend’s New York apartment to separate audiences with rival crime bosses – the ‘Boss’ (Morgan Freeman, coasting) and Schlomo, aka the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley, dodgy accent) – and then informed that he (or rather his friend) owes them each money. And payback has a price. The Boss wants Schlomo’s son dead. If Slevin kills him, all debts will be waved. The Rabbi, meanwhile, just wants his $33K back… Caught between the absurdist and the semi-serious, the tortured, labyrinthine twists of Jason Smilovic’s not-as-smart-as-it-thinks-it-is script gradually reveal themselves in ever more ludicrous fashion, leaving the film to spiral under layers of arty pretension and narrative flip-flopping. A fact not helped by McGuigan’s ‘flashy’ direction nor by the set designer’s over-reliance on loud, wavy wallpaper. Only Lucy Liu’s insanely perky neighbour emerges with any real credit.

Author: Mark Salisbury

Time Out London Issue 1853: February 22-March 1 2006

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User reviews of this film

goldielocks said...

Posted on Dec 10 2008 10:27 I really don't understand the other reviewers problems with this film!?? It's got a suberb story, an excellent cast, and is a great film to watch time and time again! Give this film a small section of your time (but make sure you watch till the end) and I promise you will enjoy it! Great storyline, great script, great filming, great twists! An enjoyable watch time after time.

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Ben said...

Posted on Oct 25 2008 02:35 I only got a short way into this film when I had to miss the rest for a pre-arranged engagement, but within the half-hour or so, I found the rapid-fire "ping pong" dialogue irritating. It thought it was much wittier and funnier than it actually was, and seperated the film from any aspect of realism. As much as I like Lucy Liu and Morgan Freeman, I doubt that their natural charm could shine over the crappy scripting, and I would end by being dissapointed with the film as a whole. As I didn't finish it, I'll do "Lucky Number Slevin" some justice by not rating it.

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Chelsea said...

Posted on Oct 16 2008 14:47 I deffinately think everyone should wathc this film. Is absolutely fantastic. I recommend everyone to watch it. 10 out of 10. But to be honest, its proberly only a film that can be watched once because after that you know what wil happen. Its great how it all makes sense in the end. With a bit of a love story. This film is one of my favourites.

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yduric said...

Posted on Jul 30 2008 21:18 Second viewing, second comment. I'm totally disowning the first comment I made: I see now that flick for what it really is: this is only a huge pretentious piece of shit, that is, moreover, filled with filthy homophobic overtones that are totally unnecessary to a plot, (and this time I definitely agree with TimeOut) that is very far from being as smart as it thinks. In fact, this flick stinks.

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yduric said...

Posted on Sep 01 2007 02:16 Well, as the rewiever (s) at TimeOut say, it is true that the script of 'Lucky Number Slevin' is maybe not as smart as it thinks, since its is definitely not the kind of 'mind-blowing' film like 'Memento' that keeps you guessing at the end. You will finally know what it is about. The reason I gave it six stars is most of all, an element of surprise, that is to say that the film is not the kind of film it appears to be (which is often refreshing), paralelling in this respect 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'. To explain this a little bit better: Tommy Lee Jones' film appears to be at first sight a contemporary western and ends up finally as a film about punishment and redemption. 'Lucky Number Slevin' has, at fisrt sight and during quite some time, all the (usually boring and monotonous) elements of a gangster or any mafia/mob film, but is ends up being... To say what it is actually about would be to spoil the film too much to the reader of this comment. Let's just add that Josh Hartnett's performance here is very good: he definitely seems to deliver his best when cast as 'outsider' like, for instance, in 'The Faculty' or 'Lucky Number Slevin', and to act just decently in melodramas such as 'Blow Dry' or 'Pearl Harbor'.

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