Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

7/10

Starring

Josh Hartnett

Bruce Willis

Lucy Liu

Morgan Freeman

Ben Kingsley

Directed by Paul McGulgan

Lucky Number Slevin is a fantastic movie, one of those movies you see once and give it another run over to be sure you did not miss a thing. I enjoyed the suspense when I saw it the first time, how the movie makes you think everything is going one way then it switches on you. Another thing fascinating about the film is that it tells you that in the beginning when Smith/Goodkat (Bruce Willis) was explaining the Kansas City Shuffle. Making you look right then going left.

The movie was well written and the directing was done well enough to keep you wondering how come Slevin (Josh Hartnett) seemed so calm when it looks like everything possibly bad was happening to him. Now the movie’s attempt at being very clever did not go down well with critics, which I have no understanding why. My only main criticism was that the whole set design used in the movie looked so off. Everything from the office, Nick’s home down to the van that the undercover officers used, they all looked odd.

I remember the first time seeing this movie I was taken back by the weird change of events when we reached the hour mark. I was then awaken and curious to see how this new turn of events were going to play out for everyone involved.

The movie starts with Smith/Goodkat explaining the Kansas City Shuffle to a man at the airport waiting for his flight. During that time he tells the man a story about a man who got the lowdown on a horse which was going to win a race. He then bet money he did not have on that horse and when a tragic event happens, the man realized that he had put his life and that of the family in the arms of the wrong people. It was a tragic story.

After that, we see Smith/Goodkat pull the shuffle on the man, but it was just a demonstration as we come to understand that he need the man for the main shuffle he was working on.

We get to meet Slevin who was staying at his friends place, Nick. When he was approached by his nosy neighbor Lindsey (Lucy Liu) who was looking into the sudden disappearance of Nick. Slevin then tells her his story of how he got to be staying at Nick’s place and how he lost his wallet in a mugging.

Lindsey proved smart and you can tell she had Slevin on his toes when he was saying his story.

When she leaves Slevin was picked up by a mob boss called The Boss (Morgan Freeman) who wanted Slevin to avenge the death of his son. The Boss believed his son was killed by a rival mob boss called The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley). Slevin tried explaining to The Boss that he is not Nick, the man The Boss was looking for, but The Boss gave him the job to kill The Rabbi’s son known as The Fairy anyway.

When Slevin gets home he gets another knock and The Rabbi picks him up too and tells him that he has 48 hours to get the $33,000 he owes him. The Rabbi also thinks he is Nick.

Now Slevin discovers that Nick owes both The Boss and The Rabbi and he has to do what they say or else both will have him killed.

The movie is a fun watch, cool enough and very focused on everything happening no distractions, just us following the life Slevin as he has to deal with the sudden predicament he finds himself.