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#2 - Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley
Director: Paul McGuigan
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Noir

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 52%

Panned by some critics for being overly-stylized, I found Lucky Number Slevin’s black humor, frantic pace and layered story to actually be very enjoyable.

Josh Hartnett plays Slevin, a character in the wrong place at the wrong time, forced to pay competing mob bosses (Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley) outrageous debts. Throughout, the wildcard Smith (Bruce Willis) seems to be working both sides.

If you pay attention, you may be able to decipher some of the movie's impending twists and turns, but that doesn’t make the delivery of these twists any less affective.

In the end, the subject material in the film leaves you wanting more. You want to know more about the mob boss rivalry, the relationship between Slevin and Lindsey (Lucy Liu), and you want to know more about the other developments in the film. That’s not to say the movie’s proceedings weren’t adequately described. It means the characters were well-played and had a mysterious quality to them buried beneath all that stylized gusto.

Some have said this movie wants to be like Pulp Fiction and try to compare the two. There will never be another Pulp Fiction. And, while there will likely be another Lucky Number Slevin (in style/effectiveness, not a sequel), that doesn’t mean this film doesn’t deserve some kudos for taking some risks and delivering a gem.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.