Logan Lucky: Fun, uncomplicated crime caper

BEFORE you get ahead of yourself with your clever observations, Steven Soderbergh got there first.

Pre-empting the avalanche of comparisons between Logan Lucky (a low-tech heist movie without any fancy people) and Ocean’s Eleven, Soderbergh brazenly calls it out first. Ocean’s Eleven, Hillbilly-style, they say in the film. Or, more accurately, Ocean’s Six, Hillbilly-style

The director of Ocean’s Eleven, Sex, Lies and Videotapes and Erin Brockovich had technically retired after 2013 HBO movie Behind the Candelabra, but he couldn’t resist coming back.

Thank god he did with Logan Lucky because this crime caper is a lot of fun.

Set in bumpkinsville, West Virginia, the Logan siblings have always been dogged by what’s been termed the family curse. Jimmy (Channing Tatum) was a promising footballer destined for the big leagues until he blew out his knee while Clyde (Adam Driver) lost his forearm fighting in Iraq.

Jimmy is laid off from his mining gig when someone from corporate spots his limp (too much liability for the company’s health insurance) and his ex-wife tells him she’s moving his young daughter across the border interstate.

But Jimmy has a plan to turn it around with a heist, governed by 10 rules, including “Don’t get greedy”, “Know when to walk away” and “Sh*t happens”.

The brothers, together with sister Mellie (Riley Keogh), recruits bomb expert Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) who’s still in prison — of course, the Logans insist that won’t be an impediment.

The target? A nearby racetrack hosting NASCAR races, the whitest of American sports, and one that deals with a lot of small cash. The plan could be described as a MacGyver heist involving rubber bands, elbow grease and a little cunning.

These are people that are but shouldn’t be underestimated — “simple” folk trying to make a go of it and being constantly beaten back by the system. There are no slick Clooney-clad tuxedos here, the glitz of high-end casinos or even a smartphone. There is certainly not a $160 million pot of gold.

What there is are John Denver songs, Bob Seger references and perverse children’s beauty pageants. But above all, there is heart.

 

The story here is clean and the characters very charming, and it doesn’t fall into the trap of being smugly pleased with itself by overcomplicating matters (ahem, Ocean’s Twelve).

Craig looks like he’s having a lot more fun than his usual serious, sometimes sullen, persona. There is also a lot of funny involving Seth MacFarlane as the British arsehole owner of an energy drink, and a prison riot demand for unreleased Game of Thrones books.

Tatum, who’s shown a lot more range than his first performances hinted at, is pitch perfect as the kind-hearted and undervalued Jimmy while Driver has yet to put a foot wrong in any role he’s taken on (well, maybe Kylo Ren depending on who you speak to).

Soderbergh is a director who has suffered from inconsistency in his long career but Logan Lucky is the perfect project for his comeback. This is his wheelhouse and even though it follows the formula, it still has some surprises in store.

Rating: 3.5/5
Logan Lucky is in cinemas from Thursday, August 17.