Logan Lucky

2017's LOGAN LUCKY was director Steven Soderbergh's first effort after his "retirement", something that smelled like a ruse from the moment it was announced.  I knew he couldn't help himself.  Couldn't resist getting back in the director's chair and picking up a camera and shooting the picture himself.  And "Peter Andrews" once again mans the camera for another curious entry in the Soderbergh ouevre.  Though this one doesn't sport the usual experimental smugness, and has a linear plot and down home humor that should've made this a bigger hit.  I put it off for a few years, but during Corona Virus Pandemic 2020, when downtime was more plentiful, the time was right to give it a watch.

I wasn't sorry.  Amusingly, during the end credits a disclaimer states "Nobody was robbed during the making of this movie.  Except you."  But I didn't feel that way.  This tale of a plot rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway of its concession dollars does in fact play as an "Oceans 7-11" as one character puts it.  The director proved he could mount an effective heist picture or two.  He has also convincingly portrayed lower class existences in films like BUBBLE.  Those two elements gel nicely in LOGAN LUCKY, its title based on the Logan family's history of misfortune. Construction worker Jimmy (Soderbergh regular Channing Tatum) and bartender Clyde (Adam Driver) are ne'er do wells who plan said robbery with their buddies Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) and his halfwit brothers Sam (Brian Gleeson) and Fish (Jack Quaid).  Rebecca Blunt's busy script allows ample time for some family dynamics, which also includes Katie Holmes as Jimmy's ex wife Bobby Jo, Riley Keough as Jimmy and Clyde's sister Mellie, and Farrah Mackenzie as Jimmy and Bobby Jo's young daughter Sadie, who is competing in a beauty pageant.  Beauty pageants tend to figure into small town stories.

The film is a comedy, but the attempts at humor in the first hour left me barely smiling.  In Hour Two, once the gears begin to grind, things get livelier and much funnier, with a few moments laugh out loud worthy. By then, the characters are well established and well settled. This is key for such a character centric piece.  But Soderbergh gives us some heist nut and bolts as well, my favorite being Joe's explanation of the chemistry involved with his homemade explosive of salt substitute and gummy bears.

You don't heave to be a NASCAR fan to enjoy LOGAN LUCKY, but it can't hurt.   Seth MacFarlane's broad, highly entertaining performance as an obnoxious sponsor might remind viewers of a few real life counterparts.