Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Paul McGuigan

Writer (WGA):

Jason Smilovic (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Wrong Time. Wrong Place. Wrong Number.

Plot:

A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses: The Rabbi and The Boss. Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them before they get him.

Plot Keywords:

Homophobic Overtones | Gambling | Death | Hitman | Blood

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Josh Hartnett	...	Slevin Kelevra
Bruce Willis	...	Mr. Goodkat
Lucy Liu	...	Lindsey
Morgan Freeman	...	The Boss
Ben Kingsley	...	The Rabbi (as Sir Ben Kingsley)
Michael Rubenfeld	...	Yitzchok
Peter Outerbridge	...	Det. Dumbrowski
Stanley Tucci	...	Det. Brikowski
Kevin Chamberlin	...	Marty
Dorian Missick	...	Elvis
Mykelti Williamson	...	Sloe
Scott Gibson	...	Max
Daniel Kash	...	Bodyguard #1
Dmitry Chepovetsky	...	Bodyguard #2
Sam Jaeger	...	Nick Fisher

Also Known As:

Lucky # Slevin (Germany) (USA) (DVD box title)
Lucky Number S7evin (USA) (poster title)
The Wrong Man (Australia)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:18 | Netherlands:12 | Iceland:16 | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Spain:18 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | France:U | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Australia:MA | Italy:T | Brazil:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Ireland:16 (theatrical rating) | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | USA:R (certificate #42253) | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Capitol Films

Trivia:

The name of the film comes from an episode title of "The New Shmoo" (1979). Shmoo is also referenced by Morgan Freeman in the movie. However, Morgan Freeman's description of a Shmoo is a paraphrase of the standard version from Li'l Abner by Al Capp who introduced the fantasy beast in 1948.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Towards the beginning of the film at the horse track they show a horse fall during a race. In one of the scenes you can see a new John Deere tractor in the upper left hand corner of the screen. The scene was supposed to be set in 1979.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Soldier: He's clean.
Benny Begin: So, why are you here? Huh?

Movie Connections:

References On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Soundtrack:

Shanty by the Sea

Josh Harnett vs The New Trend

"Lucky Number Slevin" feels like the thesis of a promising film student from the P T Anderson/ Quentin Tarantino school of smart ass film-making. To tell you the truth, I'm getting a bit too tired of this clever, oh so clever style of narration. The dialog, coming out of Freeman and Kingsley mouth is as fun as it is meaningless. Absurd without being Ionesco absurd. Absurd but self consciously so. After a little while you're way ahead of the characters - not plot wise naturally, but style wise. You know is going to be one of those movies trying to be those other movies. That in itself makes the experience rather frustrating. Thank God for Josh Harnett. He is an actor that manages to remind you of all those greats icons of the past and at the same time he's an original. The fact that I could actually see this movie again just to look at him, makes me think he'll be a huge star. The kind of star the people remember and loves, generation after generation. I wish he manages to find his Elia Kazan.