Logan Lucky (2017)

“You sucked my arm off!” 22 April 2020

Having been laid-off from his job working maintenance under the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) needs money and he needs it fast.  He decides his best option is to rob the Speedway on the busiest NASCAR raceday of the year.  Jimmy hatches a plan and puts together the “best” team West Virginia has to offer. 

The wife and I seem to rarely agree on what to watch, but the other night we decided to give Logan Lucky a go.  Overall, we enjoyed it.  It’s good fun, has some interesting plot points, provides a few very funny moments, and features some solid acting – what more could you ask for?  With any heist movie, you can expect a fair share of plot twists, but when you know so little about the actual plan as in Logan Lucky, you’re in for a lot of surprises.  Logan Lucky’s heist is a lot smarter than it first appears. Don’t let these backwoods robbers fool you.  They’re clever.  Logan Lucky doesn’t just feature a twist at the end – instead, we were treated to a twist on top of a twist with an extra twist thrown in for good measure. 

Another big plus for the movie is the acting.  It’s a large cast, but with the exception of Katie Holmes, all get a chance to shine.  Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough – all are rock solid.  But by far the highlight is Daniel Craig.  James Bond as a backwoods safecracker – it’s a blast!  There’s an infectious sense of fun in Craig’s portrayal of Joe Bang (love that name).  At first, I was afraid the accent might annoy me, but, with a twinkle in his eye, Craig pulls it off.  And the pair playing Craig’s brothers, Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson, steal every scene they appear in.  Finally, there’s something I always enjoy about watching Dwight Yokum act.  He doesn’t disappoint here.  In fact, I’d like to see a whole movie based on his character, Warden Burns.  The one performance that really didn’t work was Seth MacFarlane.  The character was about as grating as that British accent.

Our biggest complaint is that the movie felt like it ran a bit too long.  A little editing might have gone a long way to making Logan Lucky something truly special.  An easy fix would have been to cut out any of the bits with MacFarlane and take care of two problems in one go.  

8/10