SEPTEMBER 7, 2017
In 2013, Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic”) proudly announced that he was done, he was through and he’d never make another movie again. Of course, nobody believed him then, and within a year he was back behind the camera directing a 10-part mini-series for Cinemax entitled “The Knick.” Other announced projects came and went, and suddenly Soderbergh announced that he was back directing feature films again! Color everyone in the movie industry shocked! shocked! that he’s now back.
What was surprising, however, was his choice of a comeback vehicle. Rather than some socially significant polemic such as “Traffic,” Soderbergh instead returned to his caper series of films (“Oceans 11-13”) but definitely giving his eventual re-debut, “Logan Lucky,” a cornbread twist. The Logan boys — Jimmy (Channing Tatum) whose promising football career was cut short by a knee injury, an ailment that finally causes Jimmy his construction job at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and his brother Clyde (Adam Driver) who served his tour of duty in Iraq and was just about to get on a plane home when an IED blows up their transport, and Clyde loses his hand in the process. Yes, the Logans are plagued with bad luck.
But Jimmy has a plan to turn it all around, because Jimmy’s experience working underneath the Charlotte Motor Speedway has given him access to know just how the money-collecting apparatus works at the speedway. Jimmy and Clyde, who may have an idea themselves that they’re not being the sharpest tools in the shed, know that they need an explosives expert. And they know that the one man they need is Joe Bang.
The only problem with Joe is that he is already “in-car-cer-a-ted,” as the felon tells the boys, but clearly he is the man with the know-how. To convince audiences that this guy, tatted up with his bleach blonde crew-cut, is actually the real Southern deal, Soderbergh obviously needed to search far and wide for the right actor who needed a break, and he found one. So the credits now read “Introducing…Daniel Craig as Joe Bang.” What a break for this youngster, whom I will admit has the stuff to maybe…just maybe…have a career in this business.
If Act 1 is the set-up, Act 2 is the robbery itself which doesn’t exactly go as planned (surprise!), and Act 3 contains the repercussions. Any boy, there are some repercussions.
Even though the whole thing is nonsense, boy, is this a well-made film. The cinematography by “Peter Andrews” (who is a cover name for Soderbergh himself) is absolutely gorgeous, and the editing by “Mary Ann Bernard” (also Soderbergh) is spot-on. These two jobs are usually taken by Soderbergh, but one additional credit on “Logan Lucky” has come into question.
Who wrote the film? According to the credits, the film was written by one Rebecca Blunt. Okay, Some cast members claim that they received e-mails from the UK from her, but there is no Rebecca Blunt registered with the Writers Guild of America, or any Writers Guild around the world. The script to “Logan Lucky” is extremely accomplished, so it’s quite surprising that Ms. Blunt is not in the open taking some well-earned bows. Could it be…is it possible…that Steven Soderbergh put on a dress and wrote this extremely satisfying script? We may never know.
Channing and Driver actually feel like they could be brothers, and this Craig newcomer handles his part with aplomb. But among the entire ensemble that Soderbergh creates, each character is given a moment to shine, and all come through beautifully.
In a summer where we’ve endured hurricanes, Trump, Russia and investigations, “Logan Lucky” may just be the moonshine that we all need a taste of right now.
GRADE: B+
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