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Lucky Number Slevin movie review

by Kris ⋅ April 17, 2006 ⋅ Comment now ⋅ Subscribe RSS

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dreamlogic.net's MOVIE REVIEW . Lucky Number Slevin If you were to analyze it, Lucky Number Slevin proffers many questions, most tear into the plot and needn’t be asked anyway. Questions like, can a Rabbi (played by the wonderfully odd Sir Ben Kingsley) also be an adequate mob kingpin? Can benevolent Morgan Freeman (as The Boss) portray the Rabbi’s ultimate rival? Can someone staring down eminent death from both of these men really remain so calm?

Josh Hartnett plays Slevin Kelevra, the only kid who can be the cocky yet loveable S.O.B. who slides into town to visit old friend Nick Fisher and the only actor who can still look adorable with a freshly broken nose, a Something About Mary “gel” hairdo, and a pastel purple towel. Slevin spends ¼ of the film in the flimsy towel, not exactly the desired attire to don when you’re being threatened by two major big city crime dons. Because he not only claims that he isn’t the man they are after (they are actually after his buddy Nick), he also claims to endure Ataraxia, a make-believe condition which endows him with freedom from anxiety or worry, Slevin continues to crack inane jokes, and baddies who don’t share his sense of humor continue to crack his ribs. There are thugs in this film that share his strange simile-speak and generous comedic pauses. The combination of Slevin’s brash hilt, everyone’s witty-to-silly dialogue, and uncharacteristically pardoning nature of gangsters create this welcoming, relieving buffer for our main character.

But the real reason everyone puts up with this new kid in town is because self-proclaimed “world class assassin” Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) is the puppet master/great Oz peeping behind dreamlogic.net's MOVIE REVIEW . Lucky Number Slevin the curtains at both The Rabbi’s and The Boss’ huts. He asks them both to do him a favor, The Rabbi to collect a debt of ~30K from Slevin, and The Boss to coerce the kid to revenge-kill The Rabbi’s son (after his own son’s murder) without making it look like an obvious hit. Slevin proceeds as planned, but with Mr. Goodkat’s unwarranted aid, he knocks out a few walls, murders bodyguards and blows up the whole building. That’s not exactly subtle.

And subtle isn’t exactly the look the AD (Art Director) was going for either. Wallpaper with repetitive geometric and floral patterns as loud as Carol Channing spray backgrounds with retro Urban Outfitters-type chic and mates the overall 40’s meets 70’s stylee with almost too wholesome Beaver Cleaver button-ups and argyle sweater vests. Bruce Willis even has a brown felt fedora with a clipped peacock feather in its brim for God’s sake. Everything is in a mismatched but muted-wash palette. It’s like a Magic Eye 3D painting gone horribly wrong and yet I likey it so much. Maybe it’s all in place to add the tension and confusion absent when the main character is so freakishly cool under pressure. What was interesting is both seasoned and first-time assassins are sloppily dressed, often with the left collar untucked and rumpled shirts that could use a simple tug to look presentable remain frustratingly frumpy. Does that reveal the absence of a female, the apt superficial straightener of ties, plackets and other otherwise overlooked fashion accoutrement?

Maybe that is why when Slevin runs into Lindsey (Lucy Liu) or rather, he had no choice since Lindsey plows into him in a forward bubbly cutesy way (the script was actually morphed to accommodate Liu’s bubbly cutesiness), you can’t help but mildly cringe/grin at how cute it is. She approaches this chain of adverse events stemming from mistaken identity as a mystery starring her and this stranger as chief investigators. Anyway, she goes so far as to quirkily quip, “if you’re still alive when I get back from work, would you like to go to dinner?” I mean, what a cute line.

The reason I think this movie works is that you have some serious heavyweight actors dreamlogic.net's MOVIE REVIEW . Lucky Number Slevin known and revered for their stoicism and professionalism (oh, did I mention Stanley Tucci is the assigned criminal investigator?) thrown together into a contemporarily twisted cartoony realm. Its still a hardcore revenge tale with some truly grisly scenes (including plastic bag asphyxiation which I was informed wasn’t even allowed in US cinema), but mostly plays out more like Godfather on acid doing a Monty Python skit. It’s so strange how if you think about it, the script seems to be written for a cast of 10-year-olds, yet it was one of the most cleverly fresh dialogues I’ve ever heard Hollywood utter. Overanalyzing things gets me into so much trouble, so I have to say that Lucky Number Slevin was one movie that I could enjoy from all aspects (excellent stylization yay) but not feel guilty for accepting it just the way it is.