– By Mark Glass –
LOGAN LUCKY’s redneck variation on Ocean’s Eleven and other slick caper flicks makes crime pay – at least for the viewers.
If light-hearted heist films like OCEAN’S ELEVEN or THE ITALIAN JOB (either the originals or re-makes of both) were stripped of their glamorous settings and star power, this is what you’d get. We might call this a Cracker Crime Caper, but some might underestimate the cleverness of its structure, and the quality of its screenplay. This is one of the rare films that gets better as it progresses, with a more satisfying payoff than you might think is on the way while you’re watching.
Set in the Appalachian part of North Carolina, Channing Tatum and Adam Driver play a pair of hard-luck brothers, faring even worse than most in this hard-luck region. Both Logan brothers had promising futures derailed by circumstance, consistent with generations of misfortune among their kin. They come up with a plan to rob a NASCAR race on a day that should yield maximum cash, guarded by minimal security. Good idea. Of course, nothing goes right, or this would be a short, rather than a feature. It also wouldn’t be as funny or otherwise entertaining.
The supporting cast includes a nearly-unrecognizable Daniel Craig, and a completely unrecognizable Seth MacFarlane, plus the always lovely Katie Holmes.
READ THE FULL REVIEW AT CLAYTON/RICHMOND HEIGHTS PATCH:
https://patch.com/missouri/clayton-richmondheights/movie-review-logan-lucky