Steven Soderbergh has had one of the most unique careers of any director in the film industry. Since the late 80’s, he has done films in several different genres under varying budgets. First, he made his start with indie hits like 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, which won the Palme d’Or, the biggest award given at the annual Cannes Film Festival, at that year’s event. And while he hasn’t stopped making indie-level films since, like the 2008 biopic Che or 2009’s The Girlfriend Experience, which starred porn star Sasha Grey and has since been adapted into a TV series on Starz, Soderbergh has also made some big-name Hollywood projects as well. In the year 2000, he directed a pair of critically acclaimed films in Erin Brockovich, which won Julia Roberts the Oscar for Best Actress, and Traffic, which won Soderbergh the Oscar for Best Director. And, of course, one of his most famous directorial efforts was 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven, the star-studded remake of the equally star-studded 1960 heist thriller of the same name which went on to spawn a highly successful trilogy. However, in 2013, Soderbergh announced that he was taking a brief hiatus from feature filmmaking. For the next few years, he mainly worked in TV, directing all 20 episodes of the Cinemax series The Knick. But this year, one of the most famous ‘auteur’ directors in the industry is back on the big-screen with his latest feature, Logan Lucky. This is very much a Soderbergh feature; for one thing, it was financed almost entirely by Soderbergh himself instead of through the Hollywood system. But enough about that; what of the film itself? Well, to put it simply, Logan Lucky is more than just the ‘Southern equivalent of the Ocean’s films’.
The film opens with blue-collar worker Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) being fired from his current construction job in North Carolina due to a prior leg injury (that was sustained during his brief football career) that wasn’t disclosed to his superiors. To make matters worse for Jimmy, his ex-wife Bobbi Joe (Katie Holmes) reveals to him that she and her new husband Moody (David Denman) plan on moving to Virginia, effectively making it harder for Jimmy to spend time with his daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie). Thus, frustrated with how life’s been going for him recently, Jimmy plans a heist along with his brother Clyde (Adam Driver), who lost part of his left arm in Iraq, and their sister Mellie (Riley Keough). The plan involves them stealing money from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Jimmy used to work, by utilizing the Speedway’s air-based money-moving system. To help them in their endeavors, they acquire the assistance of incarcerated safecracker Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) and Joe’s hillbilly brothers Sam (Brian Gleeson) and Fish (Jack Quaid). However, during preparation for the heist, the team finds themselves dealing with a new problem. Originally, their plan was to rob the Speedway during a car show, where security would’ve been easier to deal with. However, due to unexpected time constraints, they’re instead forced to pull it off during one of the biggest NASCAR races of the year, the Coca-Cola 600.
To be clear, while it may seem to some like this is just a Southern-set version of Ocean’s Eleven, that is far from the truth with this film. This is not a glitzy heist thriller set in the fancy world that is the casinos of the Las Vegas Strip. Instead, this is a down-and-dirty southern heist based around a cast of characters who often get into wacky hi-jinx. And that’s ultimately one of the best things about this film; it has a great sense of humor. There are a lot of great humorous moments in this film, from the very specific demands set by a rioting group of inmates to Joe Bang’s unique method of crafting explosives. All in all, this makes the film a good, old-fashioned, fun summer ride that benefits from great cinematography and editing, both of which were handled by Soderbergh himself as he’s a filmmaker known for more than just directing. However, when I say that this is a ‘good, old-fashioned, fun summer ride’, I mean that this is a ‘good, old-fashioned, fun summer ride’ and not much more than that. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great character moments here and there and, unlike the Ocean’s films, you are emotionally invested in the main protagonists’ plight. Still, for the most part, this is primarily just a simple heist plot, and that’s ultimately where Logan Lucky’s true similarities with the Ocean’s films lie. That and some parts feel a bit extraneous, namely with Hilary Swank’s character, FBI agent Sarah Grayson, who investigates into the robbery. Instead of being incorporated fully into the plot, Swank doesn’t appear until the final half hour of the film after the heist has already happened, thus making her role in the story feel rather tacked on.
Still, this film benefits greatly from a terrific ensemble cast. It’s all headlined by Channing Tatum, who’s become a new regular collaborator of Soderbergh’s having worked on films like Magic Mike and Side Effects. And through these collaborations with Soderbergh, Tatum has had some of the best performances of his career since breaking out in 2012. This is one of those great performances for sure, and he has terrific camaraderie with Adam Driver and Riley Keough, both of whom are just as excellent in their respective roles of Clyde and Mellie Logan. As for the film’s supporting cast, while they’re mainly limited to more minor roles, by comparison, they all have their standout moments here and there. This includes Seth MacFarlane as a pompous British business tycoon who the Logan brothers continually cross paths with and the duo of Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson as two of the three Bang siblings, who end up getting some of the film’s best humorous moments. And on that note, as I’m sure everyone else who sees this film will attest to, the biggest standout performance of the entire cast comes from Mr. James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, as the eccentric explosives expert Joe Bang. But, through this film, you don’t see Daniel Craig being James Bond; instead, you see him in one of the most transformative roles of his entire career. In other words, Craig absolutely steals the show whenever he’s on-screen and is an absolute riot.
Thanks to Logan Lucky, Steven Soderbergh has made a solid return to the art of feature filmmaking. It’s a film that is reminiscent of Soderbergh’s Ocean’s films, for sure, but, at the same time, it’s not just a carbon copy of those films. Its southern setting leads to a wackier heist when compared to the Ocean’s films while still being a highly entertaining heist thriller with a good sense of humor and a terrific ensemble cast. However, at the same time, I wouldn’t necessarily call this one of the ‘best’ films of the year, which I know a lot of other people are saying about it. Because while the film does have a solid amount of emotional resonance to it, more so than any of the Ocean’s films, it’s still ultimately just a simple heist plot and not much more than that. However, I do understand why this film has been such a big deal amongst film buffs. As noted in the intro, Soderbergh financed this film himself, primarily, so that he could have complete control over it in this current age of the studio system. Ultimately, though, as someone who doesn’t really get too worked up over the internet’s apparent need for more original, director-driven films, what I mainly got out of this was a simple, fun summer film, which was all that I was looking for, really. This is the best kind of film to watch as a temporary reprieve for one’s end-of-summer blues while also serving as a nice return for one of the most unique directors in the film industry.
Rating: 4/5
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