Combining an all-star cast, a fantastic script, and a decent dose of humor, Lucky Number Slevin isn’t your typical crime thriller.
Stories about mistaken identity aren’t new, but I think Lucky Number Slevin takes the idea and gives it a certain polish that no one has done before. Slevin (played by the greatly underrated Josh Hartnett) travels to New York to meet up with a friend; since his friend is no where to be found, Slevin takes up residence at his apartment. While waiting for him to show up, Slevin makes the acquaintance of Lindsey (played here by an especially astute Lucy Liu), and after some small talk, she heads out. Almost immediately after she leaves, there is another knock at the door. Slevin opens the door, and who’s on the other side? Thugs from a gangster that Slevin’s friend owes money to. Thus begins the case of mistaken identity…Slevin is mistaken for his friend, brought to the gangster (played by the legendary Morgan Freeman), and is told he can either pay up or kill the gangster’s rival’s son. The gangster’s rival (played by the legendary Ben Kingsley) has Slevin picked up later that day and offers him to pay back money he thinks is owed to him, or kill Morgan Freeman’s character. The story gets more complicated from there, but it stays relatively easy to follow. Bruce Willis has a somewhat mysterious role in all of this, but I can’t talk about his character without ruining anything for you.
Lucky Number Slevin seemingly shifts between a hardnosed crime thriller and a light-hearted romp. There are some sequences of intense seriousness (mostly towards the beginning and end of the film), while there are also some sequences of such brilliance and hilarity that they almost feel out of place. Luckily, the characters stay grounded throughout the film, and these moments of comedy are effortlessly sewn into the storyline. All of the characters have a magnetic charisma about them, and all of them (even the “dumb” ones) have a sharp wit. Everyone in this movie that speaks has at least one clever, funny, or witty line. If this were a book, you might think the author was lazy and just gave the same “voice” to every character…but with the wide variety of talented actors, it instead comes across as a bunch of people who just happen to be on the same wavelength. It really is an interesting accomplishment from a storytelling point of view, one that I imagine must have been quite difficult to pull off.
Lucky Number Slevin is a welcome addition to the crime genre…it’s nice to have a serious storyline wrapped up in a witty script. Highly recommended.
