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Logan Lucky

(2017) *** Pg-13
119 min. Bleecker Street. Director: Steven Soderbergh. Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough, Jack Quaid, Brendan Gleeson, Katherine Waterston, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, Seth MacFarlane, Sebastian Stan.

/content/films/5072/1.jpgSteven Soderbergh's caper comedy Logan Lucky isn’t about very much. Nominally, it’s about love of family and bogus notions of curses or luck, but primarily it’s an escapist lark that just wants to tickle audiences for a couple of hours. And on that level, Logan Lucky works like gangbusters: it’s vintage Soderbergh in its confident construction, sleek photography, stellar ensemble acting, and nimble sense of cinematic play.

To make the film, director Steven Soderbergh emerged from a four-year break from feature filmmaking that’s been called a “retirement” (clearly not) and a “sabbatical” (except that the director worked continuously, as feature cinematographer, editor, and producer, as well as directing for TV and apparently shooting a secret feature using iPhones). So that much-discussed “retirement” turns out, happily, to have been a lot of talk, not unlike Logan Lucky, in which a trio of siblings have words about a supposed “Logan family curse” while contemplating the robbery of the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a NASCAR race.

Loose lips sink ships—when you’re plotting a heist and when, like Soderbergh, you’re giving interviews all the time. The latest talk surrounds Logan Lucky’s touted first-time screenwriter Rebecca Blunt: according to anonymous inside sources, Blunt is a pseudonym for Soderbergh’s wife Jules Asner (the response from a director himself known for using pseudonyms: “Well, that’s going to be news to Rebecca Blunt”).

Blunt and Soderbergh take a mostly deadpan tack in telling the story of West Virginia natives Jimmy, Clyde, and Mellie Logan (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, and Riley Keough). They’re working-class folks—that is, until Jimmy loses his construction job because of a limp branded “a pre-existing condition and …a liability issue.” Robbery recruits Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) and his little brothers Sam and Fish Bang (Brendan Gleeson and Jack Quaid) skirt closer to “hillbilly” clichés (the script’s working title was “Hillbilly Heist”), but Soderbergh avoids the superior tone that has plagued the Coen Brothers when dealing with low-income, under-educated characters.

Rather, Logan Lucky works to build identification with and affection for the Logans and Jimmy, in particular. Jimmy’s strongest motivation, for example, is the love of his adorable daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie), since Jimmy’s ex-wife (Katie Holmes) intends a move that threatens his custody access. Sadie’s participation in children’s beauty pageants emblematizes the line the filmmakers walk: the pageant setting plays funny-sad, but also showcases sincere enthusiasm and love.

Much of the humor in the picture comes from bickering, with amusing disagreements over chemistry and a certain buzzy TV show. But audiences will agree that the heist structure holds up well enough to make familiar material stand tall. Soderbergh extends to his clutch supporting player an “Introducing Daniel Craig” credit pointing out the freshness of his performance, and not long before, the film preemptively tells a self-referential joke on itself. Both are unmistakable signals that Soderbergh’s here to have fun, and his mood is contagious.

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Bluray

Aspect ratios: 2.39:1

Number of discs: 2

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Street date: 11/28/2017

Distributor: Universal Studios Home Entertainment


Universal allows Logan Lucky to steal onto home video in a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD combo pack. The reference-quality HD presentation on the Blu-ray leaves nothing to be desired. The digital-to-digital transfer doesn't miss a trick from the source: hues are true, black level rock solid, and detail and texture yield sharpness and a sense of depth. As for the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, it handily prioritizes the front-and-center dialogue (key for a Soderbergh film) while also providing a quite fine sound field of ambient immersion, full-bodied music, and some LFE roar from the race-car effects and the much-anticipated explosive blast.

Unfortunately, the sole bonus feature is a pair of negligible (if welcome) "Deleted Scenes": "Pro/Con" (2:45, HD) and "Tap Dancing" (1:05, HD). How hard would it have been to slap on the EPK materials and the trailer for at least a bit more meat?


Review gear:
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer

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