Fun, if a tad predictable

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2006)

This suffers somewhat in comparison to Brick, which I watched for the second time right before I saw Slevin. Like Brick, it's a noir / crime flick that attempts stylized dialogue. The dialogue in Slevin succeeds at being clever and entertaining. Unfortunately, the film itself never feels as weighty as Brick. It shoots only for coolness, where Brick has more of a soul. Still, that doesn't mean that Slevin is worthless. Far from it. It's actually very entertaining. Josh Hartnett makes up for his terrible 2006 performance in The Black Dahlia. He's very good here; people who don't believe he has talent should see this. Lucy Liu is gorgeous, and she delivers her dialogue with appropriate slickness. A lot of the pleasure comes from her and Hartnett simply interacting. Bruce Willis, Stanely Tucci, Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman are all good, too. The twisty story is fairly predictable. It's still fun, though.