Lucky Number Slevin

Rating: 5/10 (20 June 2010)

I didn't really know much about the theme of the film, I knew it was some sort of gangster thing, but I think the good cast was what tempted me to try it. The film opens with Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) telling a stranger in the airport about a fixed horse race in 1979 resulting in the death of two bookies and a Mob boss son dying, before Goodkat kills the stranger. Then it skips to Slevin (Josh Hartnett) hanging out in the apartment of his missing friend Nick Fisher, he had previously been mugged, and he is visited by coroner neighbour Lindsey (Lucy Liu) wants to try to help him. After she's gone, two thugs show up taking Slevin away, believing him to be the man who lives in the apartment, taking him to The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Believing he is Nick Fisher, The Boss tells Slevin about the Mob rival between him and the other boss, Schlomo 'The Rabbi' (Sir Ben Kingsley). The Boss wants Slevin, or "Nick", to kill the son of The Rabbi, known as The Fairy (because he is gay) in revenge for the death of his son, within five days. Meanwhile Mr. Goodkat is helping both mob bosses, and it is a question of why and is there a big connection to the whole thing, and the answer, yes, it's Slevin in quite an interesting twist. Also starring Stanley Tucci as Brikowski and Kevin Chamberlin as Marty. The casting is very well done, Hartnett has some good one-liners, he has a good small love thing with a sexy Lui, Freeman is great as the talkative and cool mob boss, and even though Kingsley is a little less used he is good. There are some well scripted moments to keep you guessing and hooked, the twisted plot could have had a little work done to give it more impact, but it is quite a fun black comedy thriller. Worth watching!