"Logan Lucky" Movie Review

Logan Lucky had a lot of promise judging from the trailers. It seemed like it would be comedy gold and a new crime classic. It generated a lot of promise, and mostly delivered, but it did have its failings too. The failings weren't disasters by any means, just small holes that it seemed writer Rebecca Blunt and director Steven Soderbergh forgot to fill in.

The film follows Jimmy Logan, a construction worker who was let go from his job at the Charlotte Motor Speedway due to liability reasons involving a pre-existing condition. In Layman's Terms, Jimmy had a limp and he was fired so the company wouldn't be liable. He evaluated his life and saw that he was going nowhere. He had a daughter who he could only see on weekends, an ex that didn't think much of him, and a brother who lost his hand in Iraq. Jimmy was desperate to improve his circumstances and at the same time, get back at the people who fired him. He decides to rob the Speedway on the day of the Coca-Cola 600, the busiest day of the year for the Speedway. His brother Clyde agrees to help, but they knew they couldn't possibly pull this off by themselves. Clyde suggests they recruit Joe Bang, an explosives and vault expert. The only issue is, Joe's in prison with only 5 months left on his sentence. He's not too keen on the idea of breaking out when he's so close to freedom, but good ol' Jimmy has a plan to get Joe out of prison, pull off the job, and get him back into prison without anyone noticing. Can the job be pulled off? Or will Jimmy and Clyde end up in the big house along with Joe?

The film is entertaining and keeps your attention. It has a good story and it doesn't require too much thought. It's a fun-filled comedic heist movie with heart. So what's the failings I mentioned earlier? Well, there's a major plot hole that involves the ending. The ending is never truly explained and, while that may be Soderbergh's intent, it still feels awkward to not have a concrete resolution to the Logan Brothers' story. The other problem is the hillbilly/redneck stereotyping. Now, I will say that Daniel Craig and Channing Tatum pulled off the West Virginia/North Carolina accents perfectly. In fact, the whole cast nailed the accents. The stereotype I'm referring to is the fact that two imbecile rednecks are playing Horseshoes with toilet lids. Seriously? What is it with films depicting Southerners playing with toilet lids or having toilets sitting in their front yard like a trophy car? That's not a real Southern thing. By playing Horseshoes with toilet lids at the Charlotte Motor Speedway is making it look like this is a regular Southern custom. IT'S NOT. The only other issue is the fact that all the comedic moments are seen in the trailer except for maybe one or two jokes. It was disappointing on the comedy front but well-done on the crime front.

In conclusion, I did enjoy the film, but I can't say it was up there with Ocean's Eleven, original or new either one. The Ocean films are four of the best modern comedic heist films, especially the original Sinatra film. Logan Lucky was a good try though and it is well worth seeing. I give it a 3 out of 4.