Logan Lucky

An indie take on Ocean’s Eleven. It has spark, the unobtrusive elegance of the central gang with the exuberance of rednecks instead of neon, the countryside and hot babes (Riley Keough, Katie Holmes). It’s not quite a dud, but unlike the elegant version of a heist, it's less watchable and more niche for a specific target audience who will enjoy this down-to-earth setting full of mongs and lots of deliberately absurd scenes. The second half is a notch better than the first with the introductions. (2018-02-03)

Who wants to watch the perfumed masters of the thievery craft in a well-fitting suit today... It's a white trash world. Soderbergh is back with another genre short circuit, which is not even a little blunt, even though it looks that way at first glance. A manically constructed, deliberately subversive, economically ridiculous indie mutation of the heist genre, which perhaps loses out where one expects the biggest attraction (robbery), but it makes up for it where Ocean's Eleven was completely powerless - on a social level. You can sympathize with the Logan’s group in the most ordinary of things. When John Denver's hackneyed song sounds from the mouth of a disgustingly painted child, it's unexpectedly the best thing ever. An ode to being a loser, a film sneering at the pompous American facade, but equally sensitive to characters from the periphery... it's not a completely smooth ride, but it's something you can easily fall in love with. Steven returns dignity to the rednecks. That is not the only reason why it is good that he returned to the screen. (2017-08-31)

Steven Soderberg has never convinced me with his direction, but I loved this redneck version of Ocean’s Eleven. A very entertaining and likeable film with an enjoyable cast (Channing Tatum, Daniel Craig and Hilary Swank are excellent) and quite possibly one of the most thoughtful and original heist films I've ever had the opportunity to see. There's the occasional funny scene, no shortage of tension, great chemistry between the characters and I really stared with rapt attention for the final 40 minutes. A very nice surprise, I hadn't even hoped for such satisfaction. Almost 5 stars. 85%. (2017-11-16)

It probably wouldn't be a good idea to go into Logan Lucky thinking you'll get a redneck version of Ocean’s Eleven, but I didn't count on that. On the other hand, the new Soderbergh film might have some of that style. Actually, probably any style. While there are a few endearingly bizarre humorous moments, Logan Lucky is far from a comedy. There's a heist, but its fairly seamless planning and execution is unlikely to excite fans of heist movies. There's some drama, too, as the protagonists have to deal with the fact that their lives are in the gutter and it's not likely to get any better, but we don't get anything groundbreaking or particularly interesting in that regard either. And what you end up with is a film that, while full of stars, fails to entertain in any of its forms. Fortunately, it doesn't bore either. (2017-08-31)

A nearly perfect subversive version of Ocean’s Eleven that goes about it in a different way than you'd expect. The main characters claim to be morons, and they are not very far from it, but they find themselves in a story where everybody is a moron, so they don't have to outsmart any motherfucking big boss, which nobody would buy, but only outsmart themselves and thus the viewer. Those expecting a stylized diamond robbery with an elaborate heist will be disappointed; this is "only" a cleverly constructed narrative with its own rules, where Soderbergh humorously departs from the expected patterns and enriches the main storyline with surprising twists and themes. The only problems of the brawny bunch during the heist are neither incompetent security nor electronic defence systems, but only their own stubbornness, and the experienced director surprises the viewer even in the end, when after a quickly edited passage from the heist he switches to the expected epilogue, which both reverses the previous impression of the robbers' idiocy with a classical explanation of the unrevealed events of the plot, and introduces the character of the investigator, who, despite the lack of evidence, is not about to give up and leaves the ending relatively open (and even before that, paradoxically, dismisses the only possible witness). And why did I say it’s almost perfect? Because, as much as the whole works admirably and twists expectations beautifully, I often felt an underdevelopment from the individual motifs and especially the dialogue. If more work had been done on the verbal jokes and the ending hadn't slowed down the pace so much, I would have been thrilled. (2017-11-29)