loved this film, fantastic display offering extremes of both emotions, made me laugh and cry- fantastic

Rating: 8/10 (25 February 2006)

I really enjoyed this film. Indeed, I thought it was a brilliant mix of several recent (and not so recent) films which didn't quite cut it, as they did not contain or offer the scope that this film manages to achieve.
The film begins with a fantastic contrast, the juxtaposition of some wonderfully graphic and deliberately hard-hitting violent scenes, which are very well filmed and definitely succeed in starting the film with a shock; contrasted with a fantastic cocky humour on the part of Slevin (Josh Hartnett), which sets the tone for this character throughout the film. I found myself recalling the almost poetic and semi-philosophical attitude and tone prevalent in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I loved; in the character of Slevin (unfortunately kkbb lacks the substance that Lucky Number Slevin has in abundance). The graphic murders are carried out wonderfully, and can almost provoke tears, and definitely leave a lump in the throat of the hardiest movie-goer, making Munich look positively tame. However, a few moments later your spirits are uplifted by literally laugh-out-loud humour. This film is also exceptionally stylish, sticking loyally to one 'look' throughout, in a fashion that reminded me of The Aviator. Far from that film's early Technicolour glory, Lucky Number Slevin is a fantastic display of seventies retro- at one point I was unsure if it was indeed set in the seventies, it could be, however this is simply the style of the film, one of the chicest displays of cinematic fireworks I have ever seen.
Throughout the plot, there are some elements which one may have to consider artistic licence. At several points I began to think that maybe one or two details in the storyline would not come to play quite as they did in 'cinemaland', however provided one is willing to allow a degree of artistic licence to this film, often simply to the extent of offering it the benefit of the doubt, it becomes a masterpiece. Well developed and thought out characters, especially Josh Hartnett's, manage to pull off the sometimes spurious plot line with ease.
Throughout, especially at the beginning, there are various scenes which do not particularly link to the action taking place, which leave the viewer feeling dazed and unsure of their relevance- however, this all becomes clear, when the storyline is explained towards the end, clearly illustrating what has happened and how the scenes the viewer saw all link together in a truly ingenious fashion. Revelations towards the end totally change the way we look at several of the main characters: good guys become bad guys, the innocent bystander becomes the premeditated assassin, the premeditated assassin becomes the charitable old man, and our perceptions of love and hate within this film are turned on their head, all executed ingeniously within a very stylish, emotive and humorous backdrop. Loved it. A high eight.