Lucky Number Slevin
Official Site 2006
This was the official website for the 2006 thriller film, Lucky Number Slevin.
Content is from the site's 2006 archived pages as well as from other outside sources.
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PLOT: Lucky Number Slevin
Over the film's opening credits, two bookies are ambushed in separate locations and murdered, their ledgers stolen from their bodies by unseen killers. Elsewhere, a man walks out of a downtown building, and is shot by a sniper.
Later, at a bus terminal, a young man is approached by a man in a wheelchair, Goodkat (Bruce Willis), who tells the story of Max and the Kansas City Shuffle. Around twenty years ago, Max bet borrowed money on a fixed horse race. The mobsters financing the fix discovered others betting on it, leading them to murder Max, his wife, and his son. Goodkat concludes the story, revealing that the Kansas City Shuffle is making someone look left, while you go right and he promptly snaps the man's neck, and puts him in the back of a truck.
In New York City, Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) answers the door to his friend Nick Fisher's apartment. He meets Nick's neighbor Lindsey (Lucy Liu), who ducks into Fisher's apartment to borrow some sugar. Slevin relates that he is visiting after some recent bad luck and that when he arrived in New York he was mugged. He confesses he has not seen Nick, and that the apartment was unlocked when he arrived. Lindsey suggests that maybe Nick is missing, and that she and Slevin should investigate together later.
Moments later, after Lindsey leaves for work, Slevin is kidnapped by two henchmen. They take him to The Boss, a powerful crime lord who has mistaken Slevin for Nick. The Boss orders Slevin to repay Nick's debt. As an alternative to payment, he offers Slevin the option of murdering his Jewish rival Schlomo The Rabbi's homosexual son, Yitzchok The Fairy, in retaliation for the Rabbi's apparent involvement in the death of the Boss' son. After he leaves, Goodkat steps out of the shadows, revealing his involvement with The Boss.
Slevin returns to the apartment and Lindsey shows up again. They plan to go on a date later that night, and after Lindsey leaves, Slevin is kidnapped again, this time by The Rabbi's gang. The Rabbi also mistakes Slevin for Nick and demands he pays Nick's sizeable debt to him. As Slevin leaves, Goodkat comes out from hiding in the Rabbi's penthouse.
Slevin returns to the Boss and agrees to kill The Fairy. The Boss gives him three days, and he recommends that Slevin approach The Fairy romantically, as he is a homosexual. Intercut with this conversation, Goodkat tells the Boss that he will kill Slevin and the Fairy when they are together, and that he will make it look like a double suicide. Slevin and Lindsey go out to dinner, where they survey The Fairy. Excusing himself, Slevin approaches The Fairy in the restroom and arranges a future date with him. Returning home, Slevin spends the night in Lindsey's apartment.
In the morning, Slevin is hassled by Brikowski, a detective investigating the Boss and the Rabbi, and his men, and is later picked up by The Boss' henchmen. As they leave, The Rabbi's henchmen are shown to have been shot. That night, Slevin visits The Fairy at his apartment and shoots him. Goodkat appears while The Fairy is dying and shoots him again. As Slevin goes to get the body of the young man, revealed to be the real Nick, from the bus terminal that Goodkat killed earlier, Goodkat kills The Fairy's bodyguards. They then get rid of the evidence by blowing up the apartment.
Goodkat visits the Boss, killing his bodyguards and taking him hostage, while Slevin kidnaps the Rabbi. Hours later, both the Boss and the Rabbi awaken, restrained to chairs in the Boss' penthouse. Their squabbles are interrupted by Slevin, who explains how the bookies were killed in order to find a name in each book who owed the bosses money: Nick Fisher. Slevin murdered the Boss's son, and Goodkat manipulated the resulting gang warfare and job offers to allow Slevin to gain access to both crime lords. Slevin reveals that the story of Max is that of himself and his father. Goodkat was hired to kill Slevin, but he spared him instead. It is also revealed that the Rabbi and the Boss were the ones who killed Max, and that Detective Brikowski, killed Slevin's mother. As payback, Slevin asphyxiates them in the same manner his father was killed. Meanwhile, Goodkat appears at the morgue where Lindsey works and shoots her to protect his identity. Later, Detective Brikowski is shot and killed by Slevin. The horse at the center of the fix that resulted in Max's death was named "Lucky Number Slevin." The word 'Kelevra' is revealed to mean "Bad Dog" as opposed to "Goodkat"
Sometime later at the bus terminal, Slevin looks up to see Lindsey. They embrace and it is revealed that Slevin knew Goodkat would try to kill her, so they staged her death. Looking around, Slevin sees Goodkat, and he convinces him to spare her and leave. (In a deleted scene, Slevin shoots Lindsey while Goodkat looks on, implying that she's dead.)
The film closes with Goodkat and the young Slevin shortly after Max's death. Goodkat takes Slevin into his car and tells him that it will be a long time before they can return to New York. As the car starts to drive away, the song "Kansas City Shuffle" starts playing on the car's radio.
Watched this movie while distracted by a personal problem and it definitely helped get my mind off it. I'm a huge Willis fan and this is one of his best. You need to pay attention or you might get confused about who is conning who and who's about to be jammed. My personal problem is with Google! They are making my life suck more than Max's with or without the Kansas City Shuffle. I'm trying to get a job, but the Google search for my name shows an article in the school paper that has a photo of my ass mooning my frat bros. You might think that is funny until you try to be me looking for a job. I learned that there are a bunch of businesses that advertise they can help get those search results buried. Reputation management is how they describe themselves. They all seem like a giant ripoff. Then I found this internet service that claims they can delete search results from Google, and that's all they do. I read their stuff. They could use seo to advance other websites to push the search result with the frat embarrassment off Google's page 1. But they're too expensive for me. So I'm in with Willis, but I'm Max, waiting for the Kansas City Shuffle to arrive. And until then I'm wearing a Joker t shirt. I don't really give a shit about what people think about that, even tho my girlfriend tells me no employer is gonna like it. If just wearing a colorful Joker t shirt means I can't land a job, something is very wrong in Gotham. Guess I'm also waiting for Batman! Adrian Phillips
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Lucky Number Slevin Official Trailer #1 - Bruce Willis Movie (2006) HD
Lucky Number Slevin Trailer - Directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Michael Rubenfeld. Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city's biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma. A film with many twists and turns.
Director: Paul McGuigan
Studio: Alliance Films
Producer(s): Anthony Rhulen, Kia Jam, Chris Roberts, Christopher Eberts, Andreas Grosch, Robert Kravis, Tyler Mitchell
Screenplay: Jason Smilovic
TOMATOMETER
CRITICS 51% | AUDIENCE 87%
Critics Consensus
Trying too hard to be clever in a Pulp Fiction kind of way, this film succumbs to a convoluted plot, overly stylized characters, and dizzying set design.
SYNOPSIS:
An innocent man visiting a friend in New York City becomes embroiled in a dangerous series of events after being mistaken for the very man he has come to the city to see in director Paul McGuigan's labyrinthine murder mystery. Upon arriving at the empty apartment of his old friend Nick, the unassuming Slevin (Josh Hartnett) is troubled to hear the voice of his missing friend's next door neighbor Lindsay (Lucy Liu) expressing concern as to Nick's safety and whereabouts. When Slevin ventures into Lindsay's apartment only to be greeted by the uninviting fist of a thuggish mob henchman, he quickly realizes that Nick is indeed in grave danger. Soon summoned by the big boss and accused of being the deeply indebted Nick, Slevin's attempts to prove his identity are foiled by the fact that his wallet had been stolen upon arrival in the city. With time running out and a complex plot to assassinate one of the city's most powerful crime bosses slowly coming into focus, the arrival of a notorious hit-man named Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) forces Slevin to step up his desperate search and reclaim his identity before he's forced to pay a debt that could cost him his life.
"This flick is durable. I've seen it over 10 times and will watch it again I'm sure. The last time was at a small outdoor screening where I was first exposed to vaping technology. The guy sitting directly in front of me let loose a huge cloud just as Willis lit up his guns. The cloud was so dense it blocked my view and the guy turned around and apologized for it. I asked him what made that cloud and he proceeded to show me his brand new 510 thread cartridge vape unit. I was impressed and after the show he showed me how it worked and all the other 510 products he had on him. They are so small that it's hard to believe they can produce such incredible output so quickly. The pens, atomizers, 510 batteries are all so cool and high tech that I can see why they've caught on so quickly. I have this flick to thank for my learning experience with modern vape products. I encourage anyone to go see Lucky Number Slevin especially if you were unaware of it - it's pretty loaded with star talent, but most important, it's a non-stop action film that is incredibly funny and entertaining, even if you don't vape." Pete Demint
REVIEWS
Lucky Number Slevin
**** Posted: Monday February 20 2006 / www.timeout.com
Scottish filmmaker McGuigan follows up his vapid remake of ‘L’Appartement’ with another slick, hollow exercise in cinematic sleight of hand that mixes ‘The Sting’ with ‘The Usual Suspects’ to no great effect. Purposely convoluted and needlessly violent, this bizarrely titled thriller revolves around an apparent case of mistaken identity as Josh Hartnett’s Slevin is dragged from a friend’s New York apartment to separate audiences with rival crime bosses – the ‘Boss’ (Morgan Freeman, coasting) and Schlomo, aka the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley, dodgy accent) – and then informed that he (or rather his friend) owes them each money. And payback has a price. The Boss wants Schlomo’s son dead. If Slevin kills him, all debts will be waved. The Rabbi, meanwhile, just wants his $33K back… Caught between the absurdist and the semi-serious, the tortured, labyrinthine twists of Jason Smilovic’s not-as-smart-as-it-thinks-it-is script gradually reveal themselves in ever more ludicrous fashion, leaving the film to spiral under layers of arty pretension and narrative flip-flopping. A fact not helped by McGuigan’s ‘flashy’ direction nor by the set designer’s over-reliance on loud, wavy wallpaper. Only Lucy Liu’s insanely perky neighbour emerges with any real credit.
FILMReview: Lucky Number Slevin
* ½ April 5, 2006 | By Nick Schager | www.slantmagazine.com
As awkward and tonally off as its title, Lucky Number Slevin offers criminal hijinks, pop culture-referencing repartee, and flighty romance that would make even Guy Ritchie wretch. So full of stars that its peripheral roles are inhabited by the likes of Danny Aiello, Paul McGuigan’s intricately structured but entirely superficial caper is something of a stylistic companion piece to the director’s Gangster No. 1, with which it shares a predilection for mirrors, blooming lights, slow-motion and ‘70s-era wallpaper and wood paneling. This retro-modish aesthetic is in keeping with the film’s general self-consciousness, which also permeates every CG zoom and pan—most notably a laughable across-the-street camera sweep from Morgan Freeman’s kingpin to Ben Kingsley’s crooked Rabbi—and performance, as the illustrious cast affects noir bluster, arrogance, and seductiveness like kids playing dress-up in mommy and daddy’s closet.
An extreme display of acting with a capital A, Slevin works overtime trying to strike a pose of hardboiled cool by piling on wiseass one-liners, narrative loop-de-loops, gunplay, and flirtatious discussions about movies (who’s your favorite 007 villain?). Yet by never settling on a consistent mood, the film’s story—about a nobody named Slevin (Josh Hartnett) who, after being mistaken for his buddy, finds himself in serious financial debt to two rival mobsters—is a washout, lacking both boisterous zip and taut suspense. And despite the voracious scenery-chewing of headliners Hartnett, Freeman, Kingsley, Bruce Willis (as a ludicrously stoic killer), Stanley Tucci (as a sleazy detective), and Lucy Liu (as Slevin’s charmingly flighty love interest), no one seems quite sure how far to push things into comic territory, resulting in an uncomfortable atmosphere that exists somewhere between cartoonish kookiness and steely viciousness. Assassinations, double-crosses, a steroidal horse, and gratuitous racial slurs (African-Americans are “darkies” and Jews are “skullcaps” to one nasty cop) all eventually figure into Jason Smilovic’s chronologically jumbled screenplay.
But despite its carefully plotted obfuscations and hipper-than-hip swagger, what’s ultimately missing from Slevin is not only mystery and humor, but any trace of inventiveness to counteract the overriding triteness of its Pulp Fiction-ish shenanigans.
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, Lucy Liu, Kevin Chamberlin, Oliver Davis, Victoria Fodor, Sam Jaeger, Danny Aiello Director: Paul McGuigan Screenwriter: Jason Smilovic Distributor: The Weinstein Company Running Time: 110 min Rating: R Year: 2006
Lucky Number Slevin
By Joshua Starnes | April 6, 2006 | www.comingsoon.net/
Cast:
Josh Hartnett as Slevin
Lucy Liu as Lindsey
Bruce Willis as Goodkat
Morgan Freeman as The Boss
Sir Ben Kingsley as The Rabbi
Stanley Tucci as Brikowski
Review:
Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) may just be the unluckiest man on Earth. Five minutes after arriving in New York to visit a friend and forget that he’s been fired, his apartment has been eaten by a rare strain of termite, his girlfriend is sleeping with another man, he’s mugged, his wallet stolen, kidnapped by a mob boss (Morgan Freeman) believing him to be his friend, who it turns out owes a huge amount of money in gambling debts, so that he can pay off the debt that isn’t his by killing the son of a rival gang lord (Sir Ben Kingsley). And then things get worse for him.
“Lucky Number Slevin” is a very clever film, probably too clever for its own good.
It has a lot going for it; in particular extremely witty and pointed banter and engaging performances from its cast. Hartnett’s got cool disaffectedness down to a science and Liu has never been better or more engaging then she is as Lindsey, Slevin’s Girl Friday. She brings a strong emotional component to what could have been an entertaining but empty film. Freeman and Kingsley chew up the scenery as the opposing gangsters – sometimes going on a bit too long but always fun to watch, particularly Kingsley – and Bruce Willis is Bruce Willis.
The meat of the film is Slevin’s predicament, his reaction to it, and what (if anything) he’s going to be able to do to get out of it as he and we try to figure out what the heck is going on. The only real problems are in the amount of story squeezed into this fairly efficient film and where it’s put – the opening prologue runs on far too long and there is a lot of exposition squeezed into the end of the last act; more than is really needed as every unanswered question is answered in the last few minutes, questions that might have been better left unanswered.
It’s awful fun to watch, though. Director Paul McGuigan (“Wicker Park”) has a brilliant eye and along with production designer François Séguin and cinematographer Peter Sova, has turned out quite easily the most well-composed film of the year, so far.
It’s funny and well put together and while it does occasionally out-clever itself, it’s still very good.
“Lucky Number Slevin” is rated R for strong violence, sexuality, and language.
Read more at https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/reviews/13821-lucky-number-slevin#7sdWAExEkYXJ2roS.99
THE WRONG MAN
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: November 2, 2006
SYNOPSIS:
Slevin (Josh Hartnett) arrives from out of town to stay at his friend's apartment in New York but finds Nick (Sam Jaeger) gone - missing. Good natured and attractive neighbour Lindsey (Lucy Liu) tries to help investigate the mystery, but Slevin, mistaken for his gambling debt-ridden friend the resident, is dragged into the middle of a war being plotted by two of New York's rival crime bosses: The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Slevin, under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) and with the infamous assassin Goodkat (Bruce Willis) prowling, on the scent of several kills, has to accept an assignment (in his missing friend's name) to hit the son of The Rabbi if he wants to stay alive.
Review by Louise Keller:
It starts with a dead body, a briefcase and numbers in a ledger. There is a horse race, a hooker named Gloria and a dope doctor with a big mouth. By the time we get to meet Josh Hartnett's Slevin, wearing nothing but a mauve and white floral towel around his well toned abs, the body count has risen and the violence is bloody. With its interesting cross pollination of genres, The Wrong Man puts a colourful mix of characters into a plot line that intrigues, stimulates and occasionally baffles with sleight of hand. Essentially a crime noir thriller with a twist, Paul McGuigan's film is showy and sharp, whose witty dialogue is delivered with a shrug.
How could a story of revenge be so complicated? There is Morgan Freeman as The Boss, Ben Kingsley as his adversary The Rabbi, his gay son, plus Bruce Willis as the enigmatic Goodkat/Mr Smith who talks about the elusive Kansas City Shuffle, Lucy Liu as the chatty neighbour, and Stanley Tucci as the always-watching cop stationed in a parked van. Everyone is watching everyone. When Slevin is forcibly summonsed for an audience with The Boss, it seems as though it is a case of mistaken identity. But we quickly learn, the importance of a name should never be ignored.
The film looks great: bleak, wintry New York exteriors contrast with bold, textured wallpapers and brightly coloured interiors. Perhaps not everything makes sense, but the scene featuring Morgan and Kingsley together in a sticky situation, is one that is well worth anticipating. I am partial to the original unusual title Lucky Number Slevin, which seems to reflect the film's essence better than The Wrong Man, which should not be confused with Hitchcock's 1956 film noir or any others where 'Man' figures in the title.
Review by Andrew L. Urban:
The Wrong Man (originally titled Lucky Number Slevin) begins with an engaging scene in a near-deserted airport lounge, where the first of several murders takes place. I counted eight in the first 15 minutes. This is all part of the story set up, but disjointed and seemingly unconnected ... to get us hooked.
It's a film that tries hard to be cool and clever, with a complex plot that is unravelled only at the end. The audience is kept off the scent of the real story with a dedicated list of red herrings, while being entertained by dialogue made for the movies. This is where it begins to slip and slide, revealing a laboured screenplay which - despite its desire to be fresh - uses derivative elements of the thriller genre. (Gambling debts?) In the Bruce Willis character of Goodkat (and even in his name) we find elements of playful noir that echo with the 50s, but without the hard lighting.
Sir Ben Kingsley (ridiculed in the industry for insisting on his knighthood being mandated in the credits) delivers a dry gang boss with Kingsley minimalist edge, but Morgan Freeman as his opposite number can't suppress his humanity to show any nastiness. Besides, these two characters are so hopelessly caricatures they belong in a comic book. This is underlined when they get involved in what would be small fry business for kingpins living in multi million dollar penthouse apartments in Manhattan.
Lucy Liu is the best thing in the film, while Josh Hartnett has to portray a lightweight character for most of the film - which he can. Director Paul McGuigan lets a few things past which he shouldn't, including a preposterously hammy heavy, Sloe (Myhelti Williamson) whose attempt at doing something new with a brainless enforcer takes the form of an angry tooth-baring grimace that looks plain silly.
There is undoubted entertainment value in the film despite its flaws, especially for those who are looking for a bit of tricky plotting and not too concerned about cinematic detail.
CAST: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Michael Rubenfeld, Peter Outerbridge, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Chamberlin, Dorian Missick, Mykelti Williamson, Scott Gibson, Danny Aiello, Sam Jaeger
With Friends Like These, Who Needs Slevin
By Fernando F. Croce | http://www.cinepassion.org/
Reviewed April 13, 2006.
When it can serve as tag for both Letter From an Unknown Woman and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, it is no wonder the concept of the "chick-flick" remains elusory. Cinematic torture guys endure in order to score some head from their girlfriends, or a depreciative label attached by patriarchal society for an easy equation of femininity = weak? In any case, the chicks in Friends With Money are too busy living out their estrogen-soaked dilemmas to wonder what a movie their lives would make, particularly when said lives are far closer to cable. It's been pointed out that Nicole Holofcener, the writer-director, has helmed episodes of Sex and the City and Six Feet Under, though her breezy, seriocomic style had already been honed earlier in her previous efforts, Walking and Talking and Lovely & Amazing, indie darlings (and chick-flicks, if you will) about women's problems, made with a paucity of judgment and a warm, tart observational eye. Plenty to observe here -- Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack, and Jennifer Aniston, all getting their Sundance freak on. The quartet of gal pals meets for dinner, each with hubby in tow: McDormand and Simon McBurney (successful clothing designers), Keener and Jason Isaacs (successful movie writers), Cusack and Greg Germann (both rich, so no work is needed). Aniston is single and unmoneyed, phone-stalking a former flame and hounding shopping malls for free Lancome samples; she tidies up strangers' homes to make ends meet.
Is playing maid the hip new thing, the pals wonder. Not too far-fetched an idea for Angelinos with too much money in their hands, but no, scrubbing toilets is a financial necessity for Aniston, and, since her soul-searching carries more than a dash of masochism, blithe asshole Scott Caan, her new boyfriend, tags along to treat her like shit and get paid for it. Money matters, though the other women all have their own midlife baggage to sort through -- McDormand is getting slammed with menopausal ennui, so she slams back by refusing to shampoo her hair and yelling at people for cutting in line at Old Navy. McBurney loves cashmere and Nip/Tuck, thus, according to Keener, McDormand's in denial that he's "sooo gay," but Keener is the film's major myopic, bumping into furniture, stepping on Lego pieces and wondering why the neighborhood is pissed at her for building a second level to her house; she and Isaacs face each other in laptops to write their screenplay, but she can't look at him after he fails to get offended when she tells him he's got bad breath. Meanwhile, everything is hunky-dory for Cusack, who wonders if the four would still be friends if they met now. Holofcener wonders, too, but despite her knowing gracefulness in navigating each actress' distinctive wavelength, she never probes deeply into the class barriers she sets up for herself, the comedy of manners tidily grounded in Sitcomland. A duster is gingerly used on bourgeois mores when a scalpel was needed, but Friends With Money is still less complacent than Spanglish or any Woody Allen movie from the past decade.
From estrogen to testosterone, all for the worse. Waving guns, gangland shtick, and assorted Damon Runyonisms, Lucky Number Slevinaims to be as masculine as Friends With Money is feminine, yet if Holofcener was interested in people (or characters, at least), Paul McGuigan's elaborately hollow tough-guy arabesque cares only about its own faux-cleverness. The hanging air of snarkiness kicks in early, Bruce Willis (trim and steely here, following the interesting schlumpfiness of 16 Blocks) decked in a wheelchair at a surreally underpopulated airport terminal -- "It starts with a horse," then an anecdote about the thread of chance, detailing how an overheard racetrack tip led to the slaughter of a family. A "catalyst," and a digression before the story has even began. Or is it? Working in the shallow Usual Suspects template, it is all setup for the gotcha! punchline, and tactful sidestepping on the critic's part is needed to keep the pernicious surprises unspoiled. Hardly worth the bother, but here it goes -- Josh Harnett is Slevin, rounding a bad-day hat trick by losing job, home, and girlfriend on his way to New York, a smashed nose during a mugging the cherry on the ice cream. Staying at a friend's home, he falls into the film's glib mistaken-identity scheme and is hauled off, wrapped in a towel, to meet "The Boss" (Morgan Freeman) and "The Rabbi" (Ben Kingsley), rival crime lords perched atop towers facing each other. Just when things couldn't get more inane, a CGI camera swoop bridges the penthouses.
That so many reviewers are referencing Tarantino when describing the movie's flashy shenanigans is further evidence that many people still don't know how to read Tarantino: his pop attitudinizing and violence are duly noted, but not his self-reflexivity, soulfulness, romanticism. Indeed, McGuigan also displays a romantic touch in the scenes between our smart-ass patsy and next-door ditz Lucy Liu, whose flighty charm manages to almost breathe life into the Harrison-Ford-in-the-making concrete post that is Harnett. (A shot of Liu lounging in bed to Wendy Rene's "After Love (Comes Tears)" soothes the irritation of oh-so-hip yakking about actors who played Blofeld in Bond flicks.) Unfortunately, it's The Weinstein Company cruising for blood-drenched "edginess," and, having failed to snatch Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and The Ice Harvest, insisting on cheeky brutality and oafishly stylized patter, corpses stuffed in freezers and imbecilities like "Kansas City shuffle" repeated over and over as if to create new slang. The dialogue, which already sticks like peanut butter to the cast's maws, is peppered with slurs, "fairy" this and "darkies" that -- more lost-in-translation QT. "You're a conundrum, you," Freeman says to Harnett, but Lucky Number Slevin should be easy to decipher for audiences alert enough to notice that the hideous wallpaper designs in the characters' rooms haven't changed much since the 1979 prologue, just as hideous Pulp Fiction clones haven't changed much since 1994.
Back to chicks for Basic Instinct 2, and, since the chick is Sharon Stone, no indie stalwarts are needed for support. Her Catherine Tramell, who in the 1992 original swept trough San Francisco in a fucking-flashing-stabbing storm, has relocated to London, where another moist, black-widow web is to be spun around her newest horny fall guy, psychiatrist David Morrissey. An unacceptably, indecently tame movie, not even juicy enough for Skinemax; the screenplay's puns on the word "cum" channel Eszterhas badness, although the first Basic Instinct had Paul Verhoeven slyly whipping everything into both an attack and an extension of the sweaty, male gaze, challenged by a succubus without panties. The belated sequel, directed by Michael Caton-Jones sans vulgarity or style, is a total limp dick, yet Stone smuggles with her some of the original's sneaky humor. At 48, the actress is so assured in her skin, and so wittily knowing of the joke she's embodying, that her performance feels like a sybaritic private gig, set subtly set under the dullard director's nose. In Inside Man, the mayor dubs Jodie Foster a "magnificent cunt," but Stone illustrates it here with flesh and wit -- if only David Cronenberg were behind the camera...
AUDIENCE REVIEWS
**** ½ Tomasz R
Jun 02, 2019
I like Lucky Number Slevin. Entertaining and rewatchable. Yes, I like to let it run again, even if I speed up some parts (more for lack of time than anything else). Still, another go at it lets you apreciate some subtle details. Yes, there are such. I admit it's a little bit comic-like, but I think it's not too imposing that way. I think it's a good, and sadly underestimated movie.
+++++
***** A. Q
May 18, 2019
These reviews are full of people who fancy themselves 'tuff guys' and/or 'intelligent'. Yet anything not fed to them on a platter is too much for their poor lacking brains to conceive. This movie is amazingly well thought out. I'm sorry to the half of the population who are slow sheep. Your government raised you well(ï¿ 1/2 1/2 1/2~"). Hopefully one day, soon, you can be the comensence having critical thinking human beings you ought to be. *Tisk*Tisk
+++++
***** Ahmed T
Apr 11, 2019
Seriously F*ck the TOMATOMETER's reviews about this? 51% ??! WTF is wrong with you? jealous ma'f*ckers?
+++++
***** Ella z
Mar 20, 2019
Loved the script. The twist was pretty predictable but hartnett was so likeable you forgot it. Writing was fabulous best dialogue for a long while and the actors were all superb , 10 stars if I could. I watched it at least ten times and kept noticing new things in the background. What happened to hartnett ? Bring him back I say
+++++
*** ½ bill c
Jan 18, 2019
Fun but flawed, requiring the shutdown of critical mental facilities more than is normal even for this type of film. Also the miss use of two great actors, Freeman and Kingsley is "criminal". That said sit back and enjoy the ride!
+++++
**** ½ Dec 22, 2018
WHAT a great twist of an ending. Critics know nothing. They're movie snobs. Look at average movie going public reviews. We're what counts.
+++++
**** Steve P
Dec 13, 2018
Entertaining and love the sets
+++++
**** Glenn c
Nov 17, 2018
Lucky Number Slevin is a great surprise- It takes from the best, namely Hitchcock and Tarantino in its approach to writing and directing and boy is it a ride. Keeping things unpredictable and breezy Lucky Number Slevin is a riot of a movie. The acting from everyone from Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Lui to old veterans like Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley is great- you know they're all having fun. You should too- go see it. (Rather underrated Josh Hartnett film).
+++++
**** Nicky W
Oct 08, 2018
Lucky Number Slevin is a surprise of a film- It takes from the best, namely Hitchcock and Tarantino in its approach to writing and directing and boy is it a ride. Keeping things unpredictable and breezy Lucky Number Slevin is a riot of a movie. The acting from everyone from Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Lui to old veterans like Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley is great- you know they're all having fun. You should too- go see it.
+++++
**** Brian H
Aug 22, 2018
Lucky Number Slevin is a surprise of a film- It takes from the best, namely Hitchcock and Tarantino in its approach to writing and directing and boy is it a ride. Keeping things unpredictable and breezy Lucky Number Slevin is a riot of a movie. The acting from everyone from Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Lui to old veterans like Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley is great- you know they're all having fun. You should too- go see it.
+++++
Stephen M
Dec 10, 2007
and this is why I will try and refuse to accept any review until I have seen this film myself. this movie has a hell of a lot going for it...pulp fiction may have the corner on whit and plot twists in the shoot 'em up hitman genre but this film comes close and might I add sir ben kingsley and morgan freemann are in this and are not too shabby but josh hartnett whom I usually do not like turns in quite a good performance!!!!
+++++
Movie K
Dec 10, 2007
Slow pace most of the time. But ending is rather good. It all links up. Josh Harnett turns out to be the little boy who is suppose to get killed by Bruce Willis but he didn't do it. And they planned this plan just to get revenge. Even the cop got killed because he is a bad guy who kill his mum that time. That's real surprise.
+++++
Mindy C
Dec 09, 2007
At the end of the movie, when all the "plot-twists" were being paraded out...I found myself wishing the film would have un-raveled sequentially. That way it could have captured my attention and been a great movie instead of just alright and somewhat pretentious. I dig the idea behind cutting up time and leaving out sequences...but non-linear story-telling only works in Pulp Fiction, not detective noir pieces, when you are telling the stories of multiple characters. This was really only one character's stoy, and thusly felt like cheating, instead of being clever or smart.
+++++
*** Moore S
Dec 09, 2007
i expected more than just that.. i mean, what a cast.. and the movie was just like.. alright
+++++
***** Jared G
Nov 10, 2007
Very cool. I'll love any movie with shotgun-toting rabbis.
+++++
***** Omur K
Nov 10, 2007
Very Interesting full of twists
+++++
***** Private U
Nov 10, 2007
Bruce is in there and Harnett is cute
+++++
**** Darren J
Nov 10, 2007
Not bad, and the ending crept up on me. I enjoyed this one.
+++++
***** Private U
Nov 10, 2007
This was a very well-done movie. one that you need to watch twice at least to catch the whole
+++++
***** Nicky R
Nov 10, 2007
didn't see this one coming...definitely watch this one
+++++
***** Nov 10, 2007
Excellent movie. Not everyone's favorite, but in my top 5 of recent movies.
+++++
***** Liam H
Nov 10, 2007
I genuinely didn't work out the twist until it actually happened and i thought it was pretty clever too. the dialogue is brilliant and just the way it managed to be funny and sinister simultaneously, its best film i've seen for a while.
+++++
***** Private U
Nov 10, 2007
loved it. unexpected, josh hartnett does nice work
DIRECTOR: Paul McGuigan
Paul McGuigan (born 19 September 1963, Bellshill, Scotland) is a filmmaker.
Paul McGuigan described his own directing style in the following manner:
I'm very easy to get along with. For the first couple of movies I played the part of the director, which meant occasionally I would have these screaming fits because I must have saw it in a movie or something, like Sunset Boulevard, these stereotypical directors. I realized that if you are tense and are shouting and are horrible, basically, it's because you have an insecurity in what you do. It's not until you kind of get comfortable in what you do that you can be open and laid back. My shooting style is like that. I'll shoot - the wide shot, the close up, the reverse - each time I'll shoot the whole scene, just to get the rhythm, and I think the actors like that. Also, being a documentary filmmaker, I don't like the camera to move the actors, I like the actors to move the camera. So, the camera's always a little bit of a beat behind. Not self-consciously, but I like surprises and I like using the actor for more than just saying the lines. I like actors that have a presence and use their bodies. I like actors to make their choices and trust that their choices are as right as mine.
Rumors have spread that he will be directing Deathlok, but McGuigan has denied it stating "I don't think I want to do a $120 million movie. It's a great script. It's David Self, who's brilliant, but that one's a monster". He is currently working on the upcoming film The Equalizer, preferring a "real man" like "Eric Bana or Paul Bettany" to play the title role. He has been writing a film project entitled Dog Tooth Violet. His main source of inspiration is director Wong Kar-wai, stating that "he just blows me away. For me, Wong Kar Wai is like good porn, to be celebrated and looked at over and over again". Gangster No. 1 was actually the key factor in deciding McGuigan was the man to direct Lucky Number Slevin after one of Film Engine's producers Tyler Mitchell watched the film and quickly sent it to writer Jason Smilovic, who stated "This is the guy! This guy is out of this world!"