Lucky Number Slevin

For the second time in recent weeks, I have gone to see a movie that I thought looked great largely on the basis of the cast, and for the second time I have been pleased with the result. The first of the movies was Inside Man, which you can read about at my earlier blog post. On Monday, though, I went to see Lucky Number Slevin, which I enjoyed every bit as much as Inside Man.

First, the cast of the movie is great. Josh Hartnett is, of course, one of the hottest stars in Hollywood, so much so that I have forgiven his often mediocre acting and still get excited to see movies he is in. And, on that basis alone, this movie does not disappoint. For Josh (yes, he and I are on a first-name basis in my fantasy world) spends most of his first 30 or 40 minutes of screen time wearing nothing but a towel (which frustratingly never seems to fall off). However, beyond my shallow desire for eye candy, I am glad to say that Josh actually does a great job of acting in this movie! His casual, almost flippant, approach fits perfectly with the feel of the movie. His interaction with any of the other characters, but especially with Lucy Liu, is enough to carry the movie alone.

However, the brilliant cast continues far beyond Josh Hartnett. Lucy Liu does a wonderful job with her role in a very non-intuitive romantic pairing with Josh that actually works very well. Bruce Willis fits his role so perfectly that you must assume the writers had him in mind when they created the character. Morgan Freeman does what Morgan Freeman always does, continuing his long-running streak of stellar performances (just for my own curiosity, I looked up Freeman on IMDB, and was amazed at the number of movies in which he performed that I loved, including, but not limited to, Lean on Me, Driving Miss Daisy, Glory, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Power of One [my favorite movie of all time and, along with Glory, my favorite Freeman performances], Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption, Outbreak, Deep Impact, Bruce Almighty, and even as narrator on March of the Penguins). And Ben Kingsley (excuse me, Sir Ben Kingsley) is always exceptional.

What makes this movie stand out, though, and what the cast pulls off brilliantly, is the amazing dialogue. The big surprise ending of the movie isn't necessarily a big surprise, but the path that takes you there is so much fun that you don't mind. I find myself having difficulty making many detailed comments without giving away elements of the plot, so I will refrain from saying much more. One thing to be aware of, if you happen to be going with anyone who is squeamish about violence, is that it is rather in-your-face with the violence, within shooting distance (no pun intended) of a Quentin Tarantino film's level of gruesomeness (though not with the gratuitousness of Tarantino). But, if you appreciate great dialogue and dark humor, this film is sure to be enjoyable time spent! Highly recommended.