Intricate, involving, thought provoking, and interesting - one of the best of 2006

Rating: 9/10 (24 September 2006)

Lucky Number Slevin is one of the best mystery thrillers to come out in a long time. I highly enjoyed it because of the originality behind it, the wonderful writing (Jason Smilovic), and because Josh Hartnett finally delivered in a performance. Paul McGuigan directs this crime/thriller/mystery to near perfection. With a brilliant cast, it's definitely one of the best films of the year.
Slevin (Hartnett) is not really having the best of days. After arriving in New York, he finds himself accidentally tangled in a web of problems involving him with the two biggest crime lords in NYC, The Boss (Oscar Winner Morgan Freeman) and The Rabbi (Oscar Winner Sir Ben Kingsley). Add in a mysterious and ruthless assassin (Golden Globe Winner Bruce Willis), a nosy detective (Stanley Tucci), and a cute neighbor (Lucy Lui), Slevin has a very full plate for the next few days.
Let me start with the lead actor, Josh Hartnett. For so long, we've been waiting for this 'next big star' to break out, and he finally delivers in L#S. He makes Slevin cool, likable, and just straight up bad-ass...all those factors make Slevin one of the coolest characters of the year. Freeman and Kingsley give another pair of great performances, not surprisingly, as does Willis. With L#S, it's 3 great films in a row for Willis, with Sin City and 16 Blocks being the others. Lucy Lui is likable as Slevin's neighbor, and she and Hartnett seem to have nice chemistry as they work well together. I didn't really like Stanley Tucci's character, but that doesn't mean he was bad. He did his job in making his character one that you don't really care for that much.
I simply loved Jason Smilovic's writing. It's simply brilliant, providing all kinds of twists and turns, making it all come together in the end, much like you've just untangled a quadruple knotted shoelace. Only veteran moviegoers will be able to predict Smilovic's excellent writing. This is the strongest point of the film. Paul McGuigan's direction is good, but nowhere near Smilovic's writing. McGuigan does the thing that most directors had problems with: getting the best out of Josh Hartnett. McGuigan's scenes are nicely cut, but I wish he would have made The Boss's room a little more modern. I think it was supposed to be like it was for the character, but I think most will agree that the boss's room looks odd in 2006. Except that chess set.
All in all, 'Lucky Number Slevin' is a true winner, one of the best crime thrillers in years, with an unthinkable twist at the end that rivals those of 'Saw' and 'Memento'. I highly enjoyed it, and I know I'll see it several more times. I recommend you see it too. Due to the sometimes graphic sexual content and some language, this film shouldn't be seen by anyone under 16.
9/10 --spy