Themes: One Against the Mob, Unlikely Criminals, Criminal's Revenge
Main Cast: Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci, Bruce Willis
Release Year: 2006
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
An innocent man visiting a friend in New York City becomes embroiled in a dangerous series of events after being mistaken for the very man he has come to the city to see in director Paul McGuigan's labyrinthine murder mystery. Upon arriving at the empty apartment of his old friend Nick, the unassuming Slevin (Josh Hartnett) is troubled to hear the voice of his missing friend's next door neighbor Lindsay (Lucy Liu) expressing concern as to Nick's safety and whereabouts. When Slevin ventures into Lindsay's apartment only to be greeted by the uninviting fist of a thuggish mob henchman, he quickly realizes that Nick is indeed in grave danger. Soon summoned by the big boss and accused of being the deeply indebted Nick, Slevin's attempts to prove his identity are foiled by the fact that his wallet had been stolen upon arrival in the city. With time running out and a complex plot to assassinate one of the city's most powerful crime bosses slowly coming into focus, the arrival of a notorious hit-man named Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) forces Slevin to step up his desperate search and reclaim his identity before he's forced to pay a debt that could cost him his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
Lucky Number Slevin is about mistaken identity, but as a movie, it’s pretty slippery to pin down as well. Paul McGuigan’s film starts off like a jokey, self-satisfied cousin of Get Shorty: Every mob boss is a pop culture poet philosopher, every thug is a gifted wordsmith, and every character dissects and analyzes the semantic irony in his or her dialogue, until eyeballs are rolling all over the theater. Purported cleverness hasn’t felt this self-conscious in years, and when Jason Smilovic writes Morgan Freeman a whole speech dedicated to the animated creature known as the shmoo, the channeling of Quentin Tarantino is complete. By the arrival of the somewhat surprising shift in tone (or identity), the film has already traveled down its path for long enough that the switch-up is somewhat lacking in impact. While this shift gives the film greater complexity, even artistic merit, it also contributes to an uneasy feeling of schizophrenia. Lucky Number Slevin might have been better off choosing one clichéd persona and sticking with it. A sterling cast does distract some from the derivative technique and effortful set design. With Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci and Lucy Liu joining Freeman, it’s tempting to view Lucky Number Slevin as genuinely hip, rather than the cubic zirconium of cool. It has its share of worthy moments and ideas, especially for those who still find the whimsical mobster movie a fresh genre. But the average viewer may never get past that feeling of mild annoyance, which the cutesy title sets in motion. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Colombe Raby - Art Director, Pierre Perrault - Art Director, Deborah Aquila - Casting, Tricia Wood - Casting, Charles Jude Fever - Co-producer, Odette Gadoury - Costume Designer, Buck Deachman - First Assistant Director, Paul McGuigan - Director, Andrew Hulme - Editor, Elizabeth Ann Klein - Executive Producer, Jane Barclay - Executive Producer, Don Carmody - Executive Producer, Sharon Harel - Executive Producer, Andreas Schmid - Executive Producer, A. J. Dix - Executive Producer, Bill Shively - Executive Producer, Joshua Ralph - Composer (Music Score), François Séguin - Production Designer, Peter Sova - Cinematographer, Andreas Grosch - Producer, Christopher Roberts - Producer, Kia Jam - Producer, Tyler Mitchell - Producer, Anthony Rhulen - Producer, Christopher Eberts - Producer, Robert Kravis - Producer, Louis Marion - Sound/Sound Designer, Paula Fairfield - Sound Editor, Steve Lucescu - Stunts Coordinator, Louis Craig - Special Effects Supervisor, Jason Smilovic - Screenwriter, Eric J. Robertson - Visual Effects Supervisor, Suzanne Cloutier - Set Decorator, Normand Robitaille - Set Decorator, Hannah Leader - Co-Executive Producer
