LogFAQs > #970218710

Was feeling like an action/thriller tonight but couldn't go over two hours, so this one it is:

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Directed by: Paul McGuigan
Written by: Jason Smilovic
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Sir Ben Kingsley
Previous status: Don't recall

"You mean this isn't the first time a crime lord asked you to kill the gay son of a rival gangster to pay off a debt that belongs to a friend whose place you're staying in as a result of losing your job, your apartment, and finding your girlfriend in bed with another guy?"

Lucy Liu absolutely NAILED Lindsey, and I think that's a great place to start. Such a fun, bubbly character that recaps everything that just happened in genius fashion. The dialogue between her and Slevin (Hartnett) is just great, and I found myself laughing at all their James Bond jokes seeing as I have all those movies memorized. This really shows Lucy Liu's range as an actress - she's usually not the one letting loose in the movies I've seen.

While this movie was enjoyable, I wouldn't call it anything special. It didn't make me buzz the way other thrillers did, and it excels in some areas while not as much in others. The entire plan was quite ingenious - Slevin's revenge scheme on the people who killed his parents, who became high-ranking crime bosses in NYC, and his stepdad, Smith Goodkat (Willis), who was also in that organization but couldn't bring himself to kill a 10 y/o boy. I mean... what kind of assassin could? Only a total monster.

This is quickly what cures my heart attack when Smith shoots Lindsey at her work, the coroner's office, because she knew too much. Slevin can't bring himself to kill someone that awesome, who gave better sex than his cheating ex-girlfriend, who really understood him and with whom he has a good rapport... if Smith wanted grandkids, that's his ticket. So he gets her a Kevlar vest and this lets her fake her death, which thus allows her to skip town with him.

There was a lot to like here. While I did enjoy the ornate set design of The Boss's and The Rabbi's offices, I didn't understand why the apartment complex was like that too. It didn't really make any sense given the standard apartment design. The opulence of the crime lords' offices worked to establish their characters - not to already mention Morgan Freeman's air of authority, which is just something he carries with him such as when he plays God. Another thing done right is the double chess game with The Boss, with both Smith and Slevin playing him in their deceptive game. The whole plan was quite brilliant...

...have Smith infiltrate them both using the old connection. Have Slevin take the place of Nick Fisher, whom Smith had killed earlier, because he owed a lot of money to the bookies who worked for both Boss and Rabbi. This let Slevin get caught up in their whole world and he could come and go as he pleased, allowing conflicting offers to be present. And this is all because Slevin murdered Boss's son to start it off, as Boss immediately thought it was Rabbi who'd taken out the hit. Oops! Rabbi's son dies too at the hands of Slevin simply because Slevin pretends to be gay even though he was on a date with Lindsey and "got a date" - the date of death - and BOOM! The original plan was to make Lindsey think Slevin had died in the explosion, but to save her life, Slevin had to tell her he was switching the watches as a trick. This was all fascinating plot work here and the reveal was amazing. The most surprising part was that Detective Brickowski was also a bad guy, having been the one to murder Slevin's mother. He was then shot by Slevin. Revenge complete on all affiliated parties.

All this was so cool and so good, with the ending making up for the heart attack that I had to heal earlier. The writing was good. The dialogue was good. The movie had a great sense of humor (i.e. Slevin being shirtless when abducted). I don't find the overall mindfuck to be as memorable as I have others, so I'm thinking a 4/5 sounds right. Definitely will come back to this one when I'm binging thrillers.

Not sure which account you're using since you haven't PMed me in forever (get on that, okay?) but @FigureOfSpeech @Machete I hope I get a hold of you either way!