"Lucky Number Slevin" is like a puzzle however when you put all the pieces together it seems all too easy.

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2006)

I was supposed to see "Lucky Number Slevin" a week before it was released in theaters at the Philadelphia Film Festival but oddly enough the night of the screening I couldn't attend because the film was sold out. After that night, I wanted to see "Slevin" but for some reason I never got around to seeing it. So today finally I decided to head to the theater and see what this "Lucky Number Slevin" was all about.
"Lucky Number Slevin" is a movie about mistaken identity in which Slevin (Josh Harnett) gets mixed up in a war involving two of New York's biggest crime bosses. The crime bosses are the Rabbi played by Ben Kingsley and the Boss played by Morgan Freeman who as I am sure you already guessed are arch rivals. Unfortunately for Slevin, he is now in the middle of this mess and has to find a way out of it before he ends up dead. A somewhat clever crime thriller ensues
Coming out of "Lucky Number Slevin" earlier today, I really didn't know how to feel about it. So like most movies that I don't know what to think of after I see them, I decided to think about the film and then read some viewpoints on the film. By doing this I have come to the following conclusion, there were several aspects of this film that I really enjoyed and some that I did not.
So what worked and what didn't work you may ask? First off, I felt that most of the characters were all very interesting and well crafted especially Goodkat, the Boss, and the Rabbi. I also have to admit that this film was very suspenseful and kept its audience pretty much engaged throughout its entire running time. However, the first 20 minutes of this movie before Josh Harnett's character came into the film was the best and most interesting part of the film. Also if you actually pay close attention to the first 20 minutes of this film you will be able to figure out the entire movie which I am not sure is a good thing or a bad thing at this point.
The dialogue in this film for the most part was very poor. I feel that the writer Jason Smilovic was trying too hard to be creative. The whole back and forth dialogue of "Why do they call him the Rabbi? Because he is a Rabbi" was rather lame. I think Mr. Smilovic wanted it to come off as funny and clever but instead it just seemed really stupid. This is just one example of the silly back and forth dialogue used but there is a lot more of it all of which I feel is unnecessary and dumb.
Also I think Lucy Liu's character was pointless. I think they just threw her in as a love interest because she really didn't seem to play an important part at all. With that being said, the ending which involved Lucy Liu was way too typical and mainstream. I felt if the movie ended just a few minutes earlier, it would have been a lot better or if the ending didn't seem like such a Hollywood ending it would have been better as well.
Lastly, if you really think about the film, it tries to hard to be clever. Thinking back a lot of this film is just too ironic for its own good. It's like the pieces of the puzzle go together too easily. I don't want to spoil this movie for anyone but if you keep your brain on during it or really think about it afterwards you will understand what I am saying. Both the writer and the director think that they are doing something very clever with "Slevin" but looking back, it wasn't really as clever as I think they intended the film to be.
Many will say this movie is like "the Usual Suspects", "Snatch", and "Pulp Fiction" and I would have to agree with that to a degree. The differences is those films especially "Pulp Fiction" are truly unique and very clever, where "Lucky Number Slevin" when all is said and done is just a good movie that will be forgotten by most in a few years. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie because it is entertaining and is somewhat clever; however the movie has its share of flaws but then again most movies do especially with crime thrillers.
In the end, I was expected a lot from "Lucky Number Slevin" and I can't help but feel a little disappointed by it. As I already said, I think this movie tried to be a little too clever for its own good and that wound up hurting it. Plus, the fact that everything just came together so nicely made the film a little bit too typical. But when all is said and done, "Slevin" is what it is, a somewhat clever crime thriller with decent performances and a pretty decent storyline. I remained entertained throughout the entire running time and while I wasn't blown away in the end, I was satisfied nonetheless.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Lucky Number Slevin" is a 7/10