Nothing particular novel, but just barely enjoyable enough

Rating: 4/10 (6 November 2006)

The DVD case reads that by taking the best parts of Pulp Fiction and The Usual Suspects, you end up with Lucky Number Slevin. Rather, LNS wishes that it had the natural assurance of either of these films, but instead ends up feeling slightly forced. The twist wasn't particularly surprising nor very clever or well crafted and its explanation drove on. It was fun to see Morgan Freeman playing a character on the darker side, but the only performance that really stood out for me was Lucy Liu's effortless turn (perhaps because I had just recently watched her completely stoic in Kill Bill vol 1) as the girl next door. There are comparisons made constantly to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which is a far superior film, and I would urge you to check that film out if you enjoyed this one. Both films possess a sort of sheen and a je ne sais quoi sense of "coolness", but Kiss' script is far wittier and its performances overall much stronger. In short, this is worth a rent perhaps, but don't expect too much.