Make Yourself Lucky, and Go Watch Slevin

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2006)

Lucky Number Slevin is witty, funny, entertaining, with amazing performances and excellent dialog.
Slevin Kelvara (Josh Hartnett) is not the luckiest guy in the world.He just lost his job, his apartment, and caught his girlfriend cheating. If that's not enough, two rival crime bosses, The Boss (Morgan Freeman) and The Rabbi (Sir Ben Kingsley), both think Slevin is someone else and start looking for him. And when a world-class assassin, Mr. GoodKat (Bruce Willis), shows up in New York for the first time in two decades, a police detective (Stanley Tucci) starts to wonder what's going on.
We didn't have a mistaken identity thriller in quite some time, and fortunately, Slevin was a worthy addition to the genre. Jason Smilovic's script was witty, sharp, and full of twists and turns to keep the viewer interested. The dialog was very funny, and I loved the word playing between Slevin, The Boss, and The Rabbi. My only complaint with the story was that some key plot elements could be predicted way too early in the film. Anyway, that didn't stop me from enjoying the show.
Technically, the film is great. The sets, cinematography, costumes, and soundtrack are all top notch. Director Paul McGuigan, clearly influenced by Tarantino, was very good. He really knew how to switch smoothly between dark and funny scenes. He could use more editing though, as the "explanation" scenes near the end were longer than they should have even. But maybe he had to do that, because the story was somewhat complex.
I was very impressed by the acting in the film. Each actor was original in his own way. Freeman, finally playing against type (When was the last time he was a baddie?), was menacing. Willis, totally comfortable with taking a back seat this time, was funny and cool. Kingsley was able to overcome his recent duds and gave an amazing performance. His accent cracked me up several times. But the real surprise here is Harnett. After his, ummm, not so good performances in Pearl Harbor, Halloween H20, and 40 Days and 40 nights, he shines in Slevin. He was likable, without losing the character's edge. I really wish he works with McGuigan again in the near future.
So, I'd definitely recommend Slevin. It was the best thriller I've seen in quite some time.