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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
If you go to the south, one of the biggest sports in NASCAR. Football is king, but NASCAR is a close second. The south loves their NASCAR, and I should know since I grew up in the south. Now, how much do you think a NASCAR race generates? Is it a million dollars, ten million dollars, or more? It has to be big money. Would you have the bright idea of robbing the Speedway? Lucky Logan is an entertaining heist film where two brothers get the brilliant idea to rob a speedway.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Lucky Logan follows Jimmy Logan (Tatum), who works construction at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jimmy likes his job but is soon laid off when someone said he had a limp, and the company fears he could get hurt. Jimmy visits his ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Holmes) and picks up their cute daughter Sadie (Mackenzie) for a beauty pageant rehearsal. Bobbie Jo tells Jimmy that she and her new husband are moving to Lynchburg, which would make it quite difficult for Jimmy to see his precious daughter. Jimmy goes to the bar where his one hand, Iraq War veteran brother Clyde (Driver), runs. At the bar, Jimmy gets into a fight with Max Chilblain (MacFarlane), a tight-ass British businessman and NASCAR-team owner, for insulting his brother. During the fight, Clyde set’s Max’s crazy-looking truck on fire. As Jimmy is leaving, he yells, “cauliflower.” Clyde becomes irate at the world because it is code for when they are about to commit a crime when they were younger. The next day, Jimmy reveals his grand plan to rob the Speedway as he has extensive knowledge of its inner workings and a chance to move closer to his dear Sadie.
When watching this film, I didn’t know much about Steven Soderbergh and the movies he made. As I watched, I was like, “This is straight-up the hillbilly version of the Ocean’s movies.” You know what? I absolutely love this movie and thought it was one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen in a long time. The plot is straight-up funny as two brothers decided to rob a motor speedway. What makes it so good to watch is that you think all the characters are idiots because they play that country stereotype so well. What I mean by the Ocean’s movie is the Jimmy and Clyde go recruiting people to rob the motor speedway because Jimmy got fired from doing construction. He wants to find a way to take care of his little girl. First, they go to Joe Bang, who is straight-up eccentric but knows how to rob. Joe asks them to bring on his dimwitted brothers Sam and Fish. Where are Sam and Fish at? They are at a county fair where they are bobbing for pig’s feet and playing ring toss with toilet seats. If that ain’t country, I don’t know what is, and I am from the south. In another scene, Joe tells the brothers to go see the bear in the woods. Rather than a bear, it is actually a man dressed up as a bear. He hands them a bag and then walks off. Another crew member is Mellie Logan, Jimmy, and Clyde’s sister and works at a hair salon. This is the crew that is going to rob a speedway.
Now the best part is the actual robbery scene. First, it is done during the actual NASCAR race and Jimmy’s daughter’s talent show. That takes some massive skills. I found it hilarious how Joe and Clyde break out of jail. One reason they made it happen was having a prison riot with one of the demands being the last books of Game of Thrones, along with the fact that the warden is too proud to call it in because there are zero problems at the prison. Sam and Fish blow up a generator to disable the credit card machines, forcing vendors to accept cash only. Do you know how they break into the vault? Joe uses an explosive improvised from bleach, gummy bears, and a dietary salt substitute. Freakin bleach, gummy bears, and salt in a plastic bag where you twist the bag twice. Can’t make this s**tup. It actually works, and they managed to steal the money. Here is the kicker to it all. Jimmy abandons the money and anonymously informs the police of its location. The heist, dubbed “Ocean’s Seven-Eleven,” in the press. The ending is great because it shows how the group got away with it, like in the Ocean’s movies.
Also, the comedy in this film is hilarious. First, when Jimmy sees his daughter, he always asks her for tickets to the gun show, and she flexes and shows off her little muscles. Another moment between Jimmy and his daughter was when he took her to get a spray tan. He takes her to a car shop and sprays her down. Funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. How can we not forget Seth MacFarlane as Max Chilblain? I don’t even know what to say about him because he was so insane with his little crew. For some reason, the word cauliflower sets off Clyde.
I want to give it up for director Steven Soderbergh. He seems to have found the perfect formula for himself. Not only did he take his experience from directing the Ocean movies to heart, he took that same formula, but some country on it, and made an outstanding heist movie that was mwah. His direction was fantastic and really made this film enjoyable.
Where this film really excels and is extremely enjoyable is with the cast. Everyone was cast perfectly for their respective role, along with being a true joy to watch. First, there is Channing Tatum as Jimmy Logan, who is the lead for the film. He played Jimmy as a father who loves his daughter, Sadie, and would do anything for her. I think the best part of the whole movie is when Jimmy makes it to his daughter’s pageant just in time to see her perform his favorite song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” What better song to sing than that, and it was sweet to see the crowd sing along with them?
This is why the character is great because he has such a sweet and loving relationship with his daughter and serves as the motivation to root for him to secede. Adam Driver as Clyde Logan was excellent in this role because he just seemed so laid back and cool. The only time he raised his voice was when Tatum said cauliflower, but he was just so calm and cool the whole movie. The two actually seemed like loving brothers who help each other in fights and even go to jail for each other.
As far as the supporting cast goes, I have to talk about the one and only Daniel Craig as Joe Bang. I would say Craig stole the show because he was that good as Joe Bang. It’s hard to believe that this is the same man who is the great James Bond. When he told Mellie not to look back because he is about to get naked, I started cracking up because he is so country in this film. Also in this film are many other familiar faces like Seth MacFarlane, Katherine Waterson, Katie Holmes, Sebastian Stan, and Hillary Swank. Each one helps the cast and story along while giving minor substance to the overall plot. Stan’s character is funny with his issues, and MacFarlane is just insane as ever.
Lucky Logan is one of those surprise movies that you will genuinely enjoy. You might think it is some country NASCAR movie, but it is actually a heist movie with a great story and fantastic cast. The film is entertaining and will make you laugh more than once. I like the Ocean movies by Soderbergh, but this film is on that level and a tad bit better.
