"Logan Lucky" is an Entertaining Comedy Caper that Shouldn't be Missed

 
Director Steven Soderbergh returns to the director's chair after a short hiatus to helm the small crime comedy Logan Lucky. Soderbergh has given us some of the coolest caper films with Ocean's 11, 12, and 13, and with them he's been able to showcase his fine eye for story and visuals. Opening in the same weekend as The Hitman's Bodyguard, Logan Lucky is a comedy that will probably get overlooked, but hopefully won't.

   The story is pretty straight-forward. Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina. That's it. That's the premise. Where this movie shines is in the cast performances and the cinematography. The Logan brothers, played by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver, are our protagonists. Jimmy (Tatum) loses his job and struggles to maintain his relationship with his daughter in spite of his ex-wife (played by Katie Holmes). He gets the bright idea to rob the motor speed way. Why? To be honest it's kind of unclear. His motives I assume are to lock down a nest egg in order to maintain a better life for him and his family, but if that's the case the story doesn't make it all that clear. The argument could be made that he was feeling vindictive from being fired and wants revenge. Again, unclear. Given the muddled reasons for this heist to occur, the ride is what you're really in for. Jimmy's brother Clyde is a bartender and an Iraq war vet who lost part of his arm in the war and who rambles on and on about the Logan family curse. He loves his brother so he agrees to go along with the plan. They enlist an incarcerated felon named Joe Bang (played by Daniel Craig) and together the pull off a pretty hefty heist.

   The cast is really quite good. Both Channing Tatum and Adam Driver give comedic and compelling performances. Clyde is more deadpanned than his emotional brother and Driver delivers a that performance in spades. The standout performance for me was Daniel Craig as the animated Joe Bang. This is by and large the most different of performances you will see from Craig, and I loved every minute of screen time with him. All the performances are balanced with some really great cinematography to compliment them. There are some beautiful shots and clever camera work in this movie, which is to be expected from a Soderbergh film. All that being said, the story itself lacks stakes. As I mentioned earlier it's unclear as to the motives behind the characters' actions, and even at then end where there's a bit of a twist it's still kind of foggy. But the heist itself is really fun and clever, the execution is funny and entertaining, and despite the lacking narrative, it wraps up in a satisfying-ish way. I recommend checking out Logan Lucky. It's a funny, warm, and artsy film that will play nice against the bombastic and crazy film that is The Hitman's Bodyguard. Both are great movies and should be seen, but since the latter will probably be the big box office winner this weekend (maybe), check out Logan Lucky as well. It's worth it.