Channing Tatum is Jimmy Logan, a has been football star from a small town in West Virginia, his ambitions of joining
the NFL was cut short by a knee injury. He’s separated and was just laid off. In fact, it seems that everyone in the Logan family is cursed. So, to change that, Jimmy teams up with his one handed brother Clyde (Adam Driver) who is really over the top with his accent, sister Mellie (Riley Keough) and professional criminal Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) this guy is hilarious, almost seems odd seeing him out side of 007 . The players are gathered together in an effort to steal all the money from Charlotte Motor Speedway during the annual Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race.
That set-up would make “Logan Lucky” a heist film; a genre Soderbergh (“Ocean’s trilogy”) is certainly familiar with. But it also attempts to be mockery/comedy, playing off Southern stereotypes of beer-drinking rednecks and “Toddlers and Tiaras” pageants. Soderbergh’s trademark directing style is on full display: tons of dialogue which reminds me somewhat of films by the Coen brothers this may be the most Coen-esque of Soderbergh’s films, in its mishmash of giddy storyline flair and the amusement in regional and local idiosyncrasies.
One interesting thing for racing fans: NASCAR participated fully with production. Scenes were shot at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the racing footage is real and drivers Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano all have cameos. Thankfully there is no overabundance of left turns here.
This has been coined as a red-neck “Ocean’s Eleven” and it’s a very fun and entertaining film. As for the real actors, the star-studded cast isn’t the brightest tools in the shed and there are quite a few mishaps. Sebastian Stan (Bucky in the Marvel Universe) plays a fictitious NASCAR driver, and Seth MacFarlane is a wreck as a wacky corporate sponsor. Then, just when you think the finish line is near, Oscar winner Hilary Swank cruises in as FBI agent looking to solve the case, unfortunately her character sticks out like a sore thumb she’s very stale.
One rather odd fact apparently the film’s credited screenwriter, Rebecca Blunt, may not be an actual person. IMDB claims that either Soderbergh himself, his wife Jules Asner wrote the script. Emails were said to be going back and forth from cast members to an unknown discussing this.
Rated PG-13 for language and some crude comments
Female characters wear somewhat revealing outfits in some scenes.
- 1 F bomb and several sexual comments made 1 rather graphic one coming from a child
I GIVE IT AN A
