Logan Lucky

Dir: Steven Soderbergh

2017

****

After directing the brilliant Behind the Candelabra in 2013, Steven Soderbergh said that he was going into retirement, or at least, that it would be the last film he would direct. He was quoted as saying that “It's a combination of things. It's feeling out of sync with everything that's going on this business at every level. I could probably deal with that if I really felt that I was evolving into something better. Like I said, I'm better now than I was when I started. I'm better than I was five years ago... but at stuff that's superficial - craft. You know, filtering, problem solving... that stuff I'm better at. But in terms of making something that's just off the chart, I'm not. That's not a shift or change that's going to take place incrementally. It requires some form of amputation. So I just need to stop for a while. I'm not going to stop making things. I just need to come at it from a different direction. I don't think change can be incremental. I need to tear it all down and start again. I tried that after "The Underneath," with "Schizopolis," and that felt like my second "first" film, and that reverberated in my work for quite a long time. But even that explosion of creativity has started to ... has stopped expanding, and I've started to retract. I feel like I'm not moving forward. Plus, it's not as fun as it used to be. I wish movies mattered more. I wish they were more influential. I mean, they do influence things, but only things that are not that important, such as how people talk, how they dress. But in terms of having a real role in the ongoing debate about how everything should work, how lives should work, they're not influential. There was a period where I felt that the movies coming out were as good as any novel, as any form of serious art that you could look at, and I'm particularly frustrated by my inability to create something at that level. I watch older movies regularly, depending what I'm working on, for inspiration. But I'm just not that inspired right now.” He makes a fair point and I do admire his honesty. I have a love/hate relationship with Soderbergh’s films but I thought Behind the Candelabra was wonderful and a perfect movie to end on, if that was indeed the case. Now don’t get me wrong, I really liked Logan Lucky, it was entertaining from start to finish and was both funny and exciting. However, for all of Soderbergh’s talk of “I need to tear it all down and start again” he has essentially remade Ocean’s Eleven (the film he directed in 2001) but in the style of Welcome to Collinwood (the film he produced in 2002). To be clear, Logan Lucky is not Soderbergh evolving, it is however, him doing what he does best and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He’s a victim of hype and I think he talks too much (even more so than me), I don’t think he’s a leading director, I just think he a very good director, when his films are good they’re great, when they’re not, they’re awful. If his new direction is to just make good films then I’m right behind him, Lucky Logan is a great start. I do love a good heist, Lucky Logan will keep you guessing and it generally avoids the obvious clichés. I would say that it feels somewhat like a sugar-free Coen Brothers film but the script is sharp and the performances are great. Channing Tatum leads the film well and Adam Driver is brilliant as his one-armed brother. Daniel Craig wouldn’t have been anyone’s first choice in his role I’d imagine but he’s fantastic and his casting is inspired. Riley Keough and Katie Holmes are great in their supporting roles and Hilary Swank’s performance towards the end of the film is a very pleasant surprise but I’m afraid Seth MacFalane’s performance and character adds nothing to the story, in fact, it takes it back a few steps. It’s particularly good for NASCAR fans though, as it features quite a few cameos from real drivers. It is good fun, exactly what you’d want from an intelligent comedy heist film. It’s not profound but it doesn’t need to be, I wonder whether this is Soderbergh having fun without putting pressure on himself, as I’d like to see more of this and less of the Good German/Ocean’s 12/Solaris side of him and although I liked Magic Mike, Side effects and Haywire, I think he can do better. Still, Logan Lucky = great entertainment.