Steven Soderbergh’s newest heist film heads to the country.
Near the end of Logan Lucky, the robbery at the center of the film is described as “Oceans 7-Eleven,” a perfect moniker for this country-fried stick-up movie with a compelling story and excellent cast.
Steven Soderbergh is no novice in this genre, and setting his newest work in West Virginia and North Carolina is a bold move with lots of contemporary ramifications. But if the audience is expecting a dismissive attack on “slack-jawed yokels,” Logan Lucky will deliver a big surprise.
The heart of this film is the slate of good ol’ boys (and girls) making their way the only way they know how. Logan brothers Jimmy (Channing Tatum) and Clyde (Adam Driver) lead the charge. Jimmy can’t catch a break: After injuring his leg back in his football-playing days, he now can’t keep a job because of it. Clyde went off to fight in Iraq but came back with one less arm. (Sorry, hand!)
Jimmy decides he can get a crew together to rip off NASCAR’s Charlotte Motor Speedway, but only if everyone follows The Rules. This endeavor ropes in the boys’ sister Mellie (Riley Keough) as well as Joe Bang (a bleached and buff Daniel Craig), a local legend and bomb expert.
There’s a backdrop of family drama throughout as Jimmy’s ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) doesn’t make things easy for him to be a good father to little Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie in a breakout role). He’s sick of failing daddy’s little girl and thinks this criminal act will turn their lives around.
The earnest depiction of the Deep South (and yes, West Virginia counts) helps the film not fall into farce. These mostly-rural people, the “salt of the earth,” are presented with empathy and respect. While some of the actors like Tatum and Keough (Elvis’s granddaughter, no less) hail from this part of the world, others like Driver and the British Craig most certainly do not. Nevertheless, the entire cast sets them self squarely in Dixie without missing a beat.
The smaller parts in Logan Lucky shine as well. Hilary Swank is all simmering intensity as a the lead FBI agent, with Macon Blair (of Green Room fame) as her sidekick. An off-putting Dwight Yoakam puts in a turn as the prison warden, and none other than Jesco White, the “Dancing Outlaw” himself, shows up in a tiny but much-appreciated cameo. Finally, Seth MacFarlane plays an English douche bag in a role most people will love to hate.
Like others in Soderbergh’s most popular type of film, Logan Lucky mixes liberal doses of humor with enough action, twists, and turns to keep the story moving and the audience rapt.
Logan Lucky is attempting to succeed outside the traditional studio system–no surprise given its director’s history–and with this top-notch cast and honest depiction of its main demographic, it just might succeed.
