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| Wednesday, March 08, 2006 |
And we rest on day Slevin
It is perhaps the most unfortunate title for a movie, but Lucky Number Slevin manages to overcome its appellation to deliver a thoroughly entertaining piece of cinematic misdirection. What is it about? It revolves around (I kid you not) a mysterious assassin named Smith, a black crime lord whose nom de guerre is The Boss, a Jewish crime lord known as The Rabbi (which is less a nom de guerre than an official title -- he actually is a rabbi), and a very unlucky young man by the name of Slevin Kalevra.
One imagines his name was the beginning of his misfortune.
Bruce Willis is Smith. Morgan Freeman is The Boss. Sir Ben Kingsley is The Rabbi, and the brash Josh Hartnett is Slevin, and if that isn't a big enough cast for you, feel free to add in Lucy Liu as a perky next-door-neighbor-slash-love-interest and Stanley Tucci as a detective who sticks his nose into this convoluted set of happenstance.
It would be difficult to explain the flick's setup without giving away too much. It's not that the opening premise holds up (surprise, surprise) under the narrative swerves that typify this genre of crime films, but half the fun of the movie is watching Hartnett wisecrack his way through a "very long story" (which thanks to the brisk and efficient editing, doesn't feel all that long). It's the zinging one-liners the script gives to Slevin's unfortunate soul that carry the film through its first half, and when paired with the ever-so-clever characters he's forced to interact with, it makes this film arguably the wittiest flick to be released so far this year.
Let us just say the opening sequence is a frenzied and humorous series of flashbacks that lead us to a wheelchair bound Smith telling a grizzly story about a gambling loss at the racetrack that led to the murder of a man, his kid, and his ex-wife. It's just the beginning of a "Kansas City shuffle," as Smith describes it, and it serves absolutely no purpose until the plot swerves about two-thirds of the way in, at which point it serves as the basis for explaining the truth behind what you thought you've been watching.
This is a hyper-stylized flick (the wallpaper alone will overwhelm you) in a well-worn genre of heist films and misdirection crime capers. It's been done before, and in the States, most people think Tarantino when they think of such a film, but director Paul McGuigan is Scottish and he's drawing heavily on the class of masterpiece criminal dramedies that have made some British auteurs famous (think Guy Ritchie's Snatch or Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels).
In a brief in-theatre chat after a screening of the film, McGuigan confessed to me that he'd made very conscious decisions about doing things with this film that were a bit out of the norm from the standard approach (he mentioned Tarantino specifically). For example, he eschewed source music that could've made a killer soundtrack in favor of an actual film score. Then there was that wallpaper.
"My wife would ask me if I was looking at those wallpaper websites again," he joked. "I had to put up some porn so she'd think I was OK."
McGuigan, who joins cinematographer Peter Sova for the fourth time, no doubt brings much to the table. His fast-paced sense of visual stimulation and a keen knack for thriller storytelling helps make this more than the run of the mill crime caper. But the real strength is in the script.
Take a look at the trailer, and you'll see just a bit of the dialogue that so typified the film and made it such a joy to watch. Arguably the best bit of dialogue was a scene between Slevin and The Rabbi's henchmen, one named Saul and the other (in full on curls and black hat) who doesn't talk. First the goon nods an apology for having to punch Slevin earlier, prompting a few questions about why he never speaks.
"You'll have to ask him," retorts Saul.
"Would he answer me?" asks Slevin.
"No."
The deadpan humor goes on (and on), but finally abates when the film gets down to the business of explaining just what is actually occurring. Here Lucky Number Slevin turns towards the dark side and becomes a deadly serious flick about revenge and honor among killers.
It's a bit of a harsh turn, but it's handled perfectly, though one could quibble with Lucy Liu's character (though the actress' performance is great, against type, and a welcome addition to the ensemble). Lindsay wasn't absolutely necessary to begin with, and the way her character is resolved leaves a bit to be desired. Still, minor quibbles are all this film warrants in the way of criticism.
As it turns out, Paul McGuigan's lucky number really is Slevin.
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