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Written by Knight Ridder
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Thursday, 06 April 2006 |
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A little bit of Hitchcock, a lot of Tarantino and Bruce Willis with a blazing .45 in either hand — “Lucky Number Slevin” may not be a classic but at least it borrows from the best.
A “gotcha!” crime drama with a big twist, “Slevin” (no, that’s not a misspelling) is an innocent-man-in-jeopardy yarn that’s almost impossible to describe without giving something away.
But here goes ...
It starts in an airport where a twentysomething guy is approached by a stranger in a wheelchair (Willis). Out of the blue the stranger starts relating the story of a young husband and father who many years ago got a tip on a can’t-lose race horse named Lucky Number Slevin. The man borrowed heavily from a couple of loan sharks to bet on Slevin. But the horse blew it and, unable to repay his debts, the bettor, his wife and his young son were all marked for death.
What does this prologue have to do with the rest of the film? Wouldn’t you like to know.
Cut to New York City where an out-of-towner named Slevin (wow, that’s some coincidence) has taken over a friend’s apartment for a week. Slevin (Josh Hartnett) is picked up by a bunch of thugs and taken to meet The Boss (Morgan Freeman), who announces that Slevin owes him much money. Slevin claims it’s a case of mistaken identity — they obviously want the guy whose apartment Slevin is occupying..
The Boss doesn’t think so, but offers a way out. The debt will be forgiven if Slevin assassinates The Boss’s arch enemy.
That would be The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley). Once upon a time The Boss and The Rabbi were partners. Now they live across the street from each other in identical high-rise buildings outfitted with bulletproof glass and patrolled by heavily armed underlings. Because of their blood feud, the two crime lords never leave their homes.
Hartnett approaches the role a bit like Carey Grant in “North by Northwest,” leavening the tension with a big dose of cocky humor. It’s his best work to date.
And we haven’t even mentioned The Girl (Lucy Liu). She lives in the apartment down the hall and befriends Slevin in finding a way out of his predicament. Liu can be a grating performer, but here she plays somebody normal and sells it.
Jason Smilovic’s screenplay is too far-fetched to be believed, but just stylized enough that it doesn’t matter. In “Lucky Number Slevin” everything’s louder, brasher, nastier and cooler than reality. Like a juggler, director Paul McGuigan keeps numerous plots and characters airborne before finally delivering the tale’s big revelation.
Actually, “Slevin” is a lot like Kingsley and Freeman’s characters. It’s amusing on the surface and horribly mean-spirited deep down. Ultimately there are no “good guys.” Just bad and badder.
LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
2 ½ stars
Who’s in it? Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley
Rated: R for language and violence.
Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes
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