Guy Ritchie style Hollywood film...

Rating: 7/10 (11 March 2010)

...which is strange seeing it was directed by a Brit. Lucky Number Slevin is much like a Guy Ritchie, having both his strengths and weaknesses.
Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) is an unlucky man; he ends up staying in his friend's apartment when his identity is mistaken. He is plunged into the world of gangsterism, with two rival gangsters believing he has debts to pay. One, The Boss (Morgan Freeman) is willing to clear the debt, if Slevin can kill the Fairy (Christopher Maxwell Kramer), the son of his rival. The other gangster, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) orders that Slevin pay back a debt of $33,000. Slevin also has to battle the threat of an ruthless assassin, Smith/Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis): the assassin who does the job that no else wants. Slevin's only ally in his mission is his friend's neighbour Lindsey (the lovely Lucy Liu). She helps him investigate, but doesn't want him to loose his moral compass.
Paul McGuigan offers a very stylist form of direction, with a lot of directorial tricks, and impressive visuals. McGuigan shows that he can direct an action sequence, and keeps the film going at a fast pace, not allowing the audience too much time to thing. McGuigan also has a good cast of experienced actors, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Bruce Willis all offer good performances, particularly Freeman. Stanley Tucci also offers a decent performance in his small role, and McGuigan gets out better performance from Josh Hartnett, who is often just a bland pretty boy, and Lucy Liu, who offers a quirky, youngish performance.
The problem with the film is the script by Jason Smilovic. He is clearly a man who thinks he is more clever then he really is. He gives the audience an overly complex plot which he didn't need to and philosophy conversations that were not wanted or needed. By making the film with a more convoluted plot and storyline Smilovic ends up leaving his script full of holes. His story has some similarities to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, where a man has to pay a large debt and have to pay back some vicious gangsters in a short space of time. He also shares Guy Ritchie problem of putting too much in a film, when less is more. That's what happened in most of Ritchie's mockery gangster film. The tone and style of the film was also similar to Smokin' Aces, a not a good film at all. But luckily this was a witty film, not taking itself too seriously.
Overall, a 3 out of 5.