Logan Lucky Review (2017)

While watching “Oceans Eleven” back in 2001 did you ever wonder what that heist comedy (directed by prolific auteur Steven Soderbergh) would be like if it was not about glamorous thieves robbing a snazzy Las Vegas casino but about a group blue collar folks from West Virginia and North Carolina who decide to rob a NASCAR track? Well, Soderbergh did, and he’s come out of retirement (from feature filmmaking) to make “Logan Lucky--” the exuberant redneck “Oceans Eleven” remake you didn’t know you wanted.

The film primarily revolves around brothers Jimmy (Channing Tatum, in his fourth collaboration with Soderbergh) and Clyde Logan (Adam Driver) who are down on their luck. Jimmy was a high school football star/failed NFL prospect, while Clyde got his hand blown off in Iraq. Believing that their entire family is cursed, they decide to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a major race. It’s one of those elaborate, outrageous heists that can only be pulled off in the movies. Among other components, the brothers will need to break well-known safe buster Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) out of jail for the job and then sneak him back into jail without anyone noticing. The Logan brothers also enlist the help of Joe’s brothers, Sam (Brian Gleeson) and Fish (Jack Quaid).

Despite how that plot synopsis might read, the dramatic stakes aren’t particularly high in “Logan Lucky.” The picture’s tone is loose and playful, while the pacing is relaxed all the way through. The mechanics of the heist can be confusing and not a lot of things really go wrong, even during the extended heist sequence itself. There are a few minor narrative hiccups the characters run into along the way but overall everything goes very smoothly, perhaps too smoothly for a film about a heist. In this regard,  “Logan Lucky” can feel predictable.

On top of that, the motivation for wanting to rob the racetrack in the first place is hazy and lacking in urgency. Soderbergh and screenwriter Rebecca Blunt (who may or may not be a real person) don’t establish the Logan brothers as desperate people who are caught in a bind and forced to commit a crime. Yes, they’re middle to lower class and Jimmy loses his blue-collar job at the beginning but the decision to execute the heist is treated very casually. That might have been okay, except that the film also doesn’t establish these characters as the career criminal types who would want to pull off such an elaborate crime.

And yet, “Logan Lucky” is still a lot of fun, primarily due to the cast and Blunt’s witty screenplay. In addition to Tatum and Driver, who turn in amusing and earnest performances, Soderbergh assembles a superb ensemble cast made up of young and old talent including: Daniel Craig, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, Dwight Yoakam, Hilary Swank and Katherine Waterston, among others. Some of these actors only pop in for a scene or two (usually in a nonchalant manner) but they always make a memorably goofy impression. Also, can I say how great it is to see Craig playing a character that isn’t Bond, especially an eccentric, bleach blonde haired safe buster? Mr. Craig, you’ve been missed.

Aside from the cast, what keeps us engaged in “Logan Lucky” are the small comedic moments and details rather than the broad narrative beats. The nutty, bumbling interactions between the Logan and Bang brothers as they painstakingly plan the robbery. Those little quirks that make the characters feel human instead of comedic caricatures (Clyde’s insistence that he lost his hand and not his arm). Those off beat, absurdist scenes that make you forget about the film’s predictable nature.

For example, the Logan brothers meet one of Joe’s contacts nicknamed “The Bear” to acquire some materials for the heist, who turns out to be a man in a bear suit; a delightfully out of left moment that generated a hardy laugh from the audience at my preview screening. On a scene-by-scene basis, “Logan Lucky” is packed with laughs. It may not be great but Soderbergh’s return to filmmaking is a light, entertaining affair.

 B

American Honey Review (2016)

Andrea Arnold’s poignant, uncomfortable “American Honey” is difficult to categorize and a film you could spend hours dissecting. It’s a coming of age story, a road trip film, a romance, as well as a lyrical and unflinching portrait of poverty in the American heartland (specifically youth poverty). However the film is also about (and it's the aspect I personally found to be most moving) family and community; at the center of “American Honey” is a tightknit tribe composed of those who don’t have anywhere else to go.

“American Honey” begins on a low note as our protagonist Star, (Sasha Stone) dumpster dives with her two kid siblings. On the way home she encounters a white van, full of rambunctious young adults including Jake (Shia LaBeouf) who asks her to come with them. Star is tempted but ultimately declines. However, things don’t get much better for her when the three return to their cramped, decrepit home. Star and her siblings live with their creepy (step?) father.

Newcomer Lane is magnificently understated in the role, playing Star with a combination of resilience and naivety, empathy and stubbornness. Star is trapped in a less than ideal home life and somewhat impulsively decides to escape later that day, leaving her siblings behind with a family friend and meeting up with Jake and the white van crew. They’re group of fellow impoverished youths (in their late teens and twenties) traveling cross-country to sell magazine subscriptions to rich suburbanites.

From there, the picture assumes a freewheeling, slice-of-life structure as we follow the group from state to state, gas station to gas station, seedy motel to seedy motel, where they party hard among other things. This opportunity gives Star freedom from her miserable “family” situation, in the form of a new makeshift family made up of fellow outcasts and runaways. They’re a rowdy, rag tag group of kids who immediately welcome Star into the fold. We spend a lot of time in the van with them or in motel parking lots as they interact with each other and merrily sing along to rap music.

It’s a testament to Arnold and the cast that this group ends up being as likable as they are. At first they come off like obnoxious, mumbling wangsters. In one scene, when they dance and sing along to Rihanna’s “We Found Love” in a retail store, with Jake even dancing on top a counter, I rolled my eyes thinking: how am I going to spend two more hours with these guys?  Yet, the more time you spend with them the more you come to like them. While not the smartest bunch (and certainly still prone to bursts of obnoxiousness) they’re sketched as genuinely nice, caring people with a lot to give.

The communal scenes (particularly the group sing-alongs in the van) emit a strong sense of warmth and togetherness. In their previous lives these people were neglected and stranded but here they feel appreciated and are happy to be in one another’s company. During one scene near the end, when they sing along to Lady Antebellum’s “American Honey” a feeling of joy and comfort washed over me, as if I was traveling with them. In making the film, Arnold and the cast pretty much took the same road trip that’s taken in the movie. In interviews they talk about how much fun it was to make, how freeing the experience was and how by the end they felt like a cohesive unit. That sense of intimacy can be felt in practically every group scene in the picture.

I don’t want to say that Arnold romanticizes their situation or poverty in general; there’s still a sense of danger and uncertainty within this atmosphere of community and friendliness. We see this strongly in the characters of Jake and Krystal, (Riley Keough) the leader of the group. Starting with Jake, LaBeouf somehow manages to be charming and creepy in equal measure. Smooth and convincing enough to make Star come along and become attracted to him but also kind of rapey. When they first meet in a parking lot he sneaks a kiss on her cheek. Not only that, Jake’s actions and behaviors become increasingly unstable and unpredictable. This is perhaps the most fascinating, complex character LaBeouf has played so far.

As for Krystal, she’s ice cold-- running the magazine selling business with an iron fist, imposing strict and oddly sadistic rules. On the one hand, boys and girls can’t stay in the same motel rooms and on the other, the two lowest earners have to fist fight in a “loser night” for the entertainment of the group. And if you go too long without earning she’ll abandon you at the side of the road like a piece of trash. In other words, the sense of freedom and connectivity Star and the others feel comes at a price; have too much fun and Krystal will cast you aside. For her, this is a business, not a family road trip.

At the same time, if “American Honey” doesn't romanticize their situation, it also doesn’t (thankfully) wallow in tragedy and suffering. There are about a dozen (a slight exaggeration) bad things that could have happened in this film but don’t. It’s not always a pleasant watching experience but even the darkest scenes don’t quite go where you expect them to go, creating a welcomed sense of tension and surprise. Dourness can be just as forced and predictable as sentimentality and in “American Honey” Arnold shows restraint. As uncomfortable as it can be, the film is more optimistic than it initially seems.

In the end, the movie’s greatest flaw is running time. “American Honey” clocks in at an epic two hours and forty-three minutes. Considering the movie’s repetitive and plotless style you could easily cut twenty or so minutes. As a result, I’m not eager to revisit the film in its entirety for a little while. Even so, “American Honey” is an exceptional, compelling film about a band of misfits that find their place--one that shouldn’t be missed.

B+