Lucky Number Slevin
Got to go to a screening of Lucky Number Slevin the other night. I enjoyed it. It's clever and has some nice twists.
Tons of talent in the acting department. I've never really cared one way or the other for Josh Hartnett. The only things that I've ever liked that he was in are Black Hawk Down and The Virgin Suicides and I think his being them in them was just coincidental to me liking them. Not that he's bad, but he's never really jumped out at me. He's good in this. You like him, for the most part, the fact that he's getting his ass kicked by bad luck for most of the film makes him endearing.
I always like Bruce Willis. He's good in this. He's not funny-tough Bruce Willis like in Die Hard. He's more tough Bruce Willis like in Sin City. Good though. Plus, his character's named Mr. Goodkat, so the Attack Cat's got a soft spot. Throw in Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Stanley Tucci and you've got yourself a cast.
Downside of the film is that it feels like it's trying too hard. The speechiness of some of the scenes... of a lot of the scenes. There's a lot of fancy banter that feels like it's auditioning for an erudite version of a Quentin Tarantino script. It's good, but it just doesn’t feel natural, kinda like Chicken McNuggets or breast implants. The production design's a bit over the top as well. Slevin's friend's apartment looks like a low rent, grubby Jonathan Adler decorated it, where the apartments of the two wealthy gangsters look like a Tiffany lamp that's evolved into a living space.
The criticisms aren't really as significant as they read. I did enjoy this film. It's a fun, if a bit dark, little crime thriller.
I'm saving my biggest criticism for the advertising campaign. I remember seeing the trailer in the theatre and I didn't have a problem with it. Now that I've seen the film and subsequently have seen the ads on TV, I have to say that they really suck. They give away one of the big twists of the film. They could have the same campaign and remove just one line and it'd still be as effective. I don't know what the hell's wrong with the idiots who cut these trailers. It's almost as though they're mad at the audience and want to ruin the film for them.
If you want to see this film, please do. I'd recommend it. However, if you are going to go see it, try to avoid the TV campaign supporting it.
scribbled by Rob at 11:09 PM - permalink
1 Comments:
If there's one thing I can't stand, it's trailer editors.
I'm going to go see this movie - as soon as I see "V for Vendetta", "The Chronicles of Narnia", and "War of the Worlds".
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