Just saw LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN. Don’t make that mistake. Artsy-fartsy Tarentino wannabe directing and story starring Josh Hartnett (this generation’s Matthew Modine) and Bruce Willis whose current style of acting can only be described as “Botox”.
Quick cuts of a telephone ringing, random people getting graphically blown away, process shots of New York, a horse race – remind you of anything? Right. College. All those pretentious student films you had to suffer through. Only thing missing was an insufferable Q&A with the director afterwards where he told you how LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN was really a retelling of the story of Christ and an homage to the Jerry Lewis movies he saw as a kid.
The film (and it is a “film”) is all about the old bait and switch and the only one director Paul McGuigan pulled off successfully was convincing Sir Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman that this was a good career choice. (It’s hard to watch Morgan Freeman in a bad movie without thinking, “Where is Ashley Judd?”)
One performance of note: Lucy Lui. Probably only hired because she was in KILL BILL. A lot of Quentin-Envy going on here.
When you go to a movie and the commercials are better you know you’re in for a bomb. Avoid LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN.
Tomorrow: my Summer Movie Preview. Don’t buy your tickets just yet.
Yeah after Ebert's review of Slevin (2 of 4 stars) I knew it was a skipper. [Plus I think the name says it all]
ReplyDeleteI'm on my way to see Brick , and as a huge noir buff, I'm hoping for good things.
"and Bruce Willis whose current style of acting can only be described as “Botox”.
ReplyDeleteThat's just funny right there!
Love that, the Botox method of acting... and ol' Morgan teaming up with Miss Judd.
ReplyDeleteSaving $8-10 in movie money is not a bad thing. Thanks for the tip!
There's never been a good movie with a made up word in the title, except for "Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo". That was solid.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think it was THAT bad. I'll admit, the first half or so when it was trying so hard to be hip with all the "witty *cough*forced*cough*" dialogue grated heavily on my nerves. But once it settled into just being satisfied with piling on as many cliche twists as it could until it exploded, I grew surprisingly okay with it.
ReplyDeleteStill planning on seeing it. I have an affinity for movies that were filmed in my city. But I heard similar things from my sister.
ReplyDelete- Allen
Didn't believe a word of it. Fortunately, I saw it for free.
ReplyDelete