Film Review: Logan Lucky

Steven Soderbergh returns from sabbatical with a new spin on the heist subgenre in Logan Lucky.

After getting laid off from his job as a labourer, Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) decides to work with his one-armed brother Clyde (Adam Driver) to rob a NASCAR oval during one of the biggest races of the year.

To pull it off they need the help of their hairdresser sister (Riley Keogh) and an explosives expert by the name of Joe Bang (Daniel Craig); the only catch is, Joe is in prison, and the brothers' window have to break him out before they can pull off the heist.

With a wry sense of humour and a whole lot of pathos under the surface, Logan Lucky is the perfect palette cleanser from a long blockbuster season of larger-than-life tentpole films. The ensemble cast – Tatum, Driver, Keogh, Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, Katherine Waterston – coupled with the talent behind the camera make this a winning return for Soderbergh.

The tone is dry and tongue-in-cheek, with the brothers sharing codenames like 'cauliflower' and one moment involving an industrial vacuum serving up the most boisterous of belly laughs from yours truly, and to me at least it recalled the Coen brothers more comedic work, such as Hail Caesar! That might not work for everyone (that film certainly has its fair share of detractors), but I found Logan Lucky to be just as entertaining, unexpected and charming, particularly in the two lead performances from Tatum and Driver.

Daniel Craig's riotous performance is the headline act however, and with good reason. He wholly commits to the hick persona and doesn't leave anything left on the table. It's a scarily different role from his cool as a cucumber James Bond act, which makes it that extra ounce more impressive.

The first two acts – where the brothers and Joe join forces, plan and enact their heist – is definitely where the film is strongest, as it trots along at a merry pace and includes fun diversions to fairly throwaway albeit silly sideplots; one follows a fairly uneventful and civil prison riot. Yeah, you read that right; somehow this veers into a wayward tangent about Game of Thrones. It's really funny and just keeps on rolling, further heightening the absurdity.

On the whole though, Logan Lucky is a touch long – the third act just keeps rolling when it should be wrapping up – and Swank doesn't get her dues, with most of her role relegated to the back half of the film. As such, she doesn't make as much an impact as she could have.

The Verdict: 8/10

Fun, light-hearted and packing a surprising emotional punch towards the end, Logan Lucky isn't as flashy as Soderbergh's Oceans films but it does posses the same entertainment value and zany comedy about a group of nobodies doing something remarkable.

Logan Lucky is in cinemas across Australia now.