Logan Lucky (2017)

☆ ☆ ☆

Logan Lucky (2017) – S. Soderbergh

Are director Steven Soderbergh and writer Rebecca Blunt taking the piss or do they genuinely have some affection for these blue-collar characters from West Virginia?  How close do the actors veer toward caricature?  I guess it is a testament to all that the line here is pretty blurred – after some initial discomfort, I settled in to their world and accepted (mostly) everyone on face value.  A lot of little seemingly authentic details flesh things out.  But this is still a comedy so we’re meant to laugh at some fools (e.g., Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson). Channing Tatum and Adam Driver are brothers who have been unlucky in life and now plan to rob the local racetrack during a big NASCAR event (with the assistance of convict Daniel Craig, playing American).  The filmmakers play a bit of a shell game with the audience, refusing to give us all the details of the heist plan until it has actually unfolded – this “reveal” is mostly satisfying but a bit mechanical.  Soderbergh and his team are really aiming for “fun” here and the ironic sting in the tail is supposed to round things off and send the audience home with a knowing smile – but somehow things don’t really lift off.  It could be a somewhat jarring mismatch of acting styles at times or a generally subdued performance from Tatum or a “seen it all before” feel to the heist.  But it is certainly an amiable time-passer.