Dear Jim,
Do you ever feel like you see too many films?
Signed,
Everyone.
Dear Everyone. Yes. Yes, I do. Sometimes I can tell. Do you know how? I should have found a film like Logan Lucky to be an absolute romp, a celebration of fictional delight, an all-encompassing laugh riot, and what did I find it instead: passable. “Yeah, this is amusing, I guess. I feel sort-of invested here.” This film has a caper involving a pinch at a NASCAR speedway, which by itself led to some quality objections among the lesser players: e.g. “This is un-American!” and “What did NASCAR ever do to you?” Logan Lucky also involved a jail break-out and a jail break-in with Channing Tatum as the ring-leader, Adam Driver as the overcompensating one-handed brother & Daniel Craig as a redneck con Chemistry professor. There was goofy; there was intrigue; there was anxiety. This should have been a treasure to unearth and wallow in. This should have been a cinematic party and I treated it like an ordinary day. So, you can decide whether or not I’ve been fair to this picture or if, perhaps, I just see too many films.
Former football star Jimmy Logan (Tatum) gets fired from a blue-collar job for showing a slight limp. This is the kind of thing I would have sworn was impossible not-so-long ago, but in Trump’s America? Sure. That could happen. I don’t even question stuff like this any more. Jimmy’s custody argument just got a whole lot weaker, but I’m not sure that justifies a heist. As part of the Charlotte Motor Speedway construction crew, he certainly has unique insight as to how a robbery might go down … but having the ability to thieve and executing a theft are two very different mind sets.
Yeah, in retrospect, I’m not entirely sure how Jimmy justifies the decision or how he gets his one-armed brother Clyde (Driver) to go in with him. Must be a brother thing. Then, of course, they need a demolitions expert, but the only one they know, Joe Bang (yes, “Joe Bang”) is in jail. And while Joe (Craig) is hip to some hijinks, he’s in jail, which will require a bit of finesse to make a robbery happen unless the Charlotte Motor Speedway suddenly relocates to his cell room. Joe’s idiot brothers are easily convinced to join Logan’s Heroes. Must be a brother thing.
Steven Soderbergh pried himself away from the Magic Mike franchise to make a more Ocean’s Eleven kind-of-film. You can decide for yourself whether Channing Tatum makes a better Magic Mike or Danny Ocean. Three Vegas heists have 
given Soderbergh great control over the details of robbery. So, some talent on screen. A decent caper. Some humor. A director who knows exactly the details to show to get you hooked, while withholding the ones that give away the mystery. Why didn’t I love this film?
It might be that I just never felt justification for the heist. It might be that the effort to draw humor left too many unrealistic gaps. (If I’m pulling a million-dollar heist in broad daylight, I don’t want morons or a one-handed brother on my crew.) It might just be the “seen-it” feel to Logan Lucky. This picture comes off as a poor man’s Ocean film, no question. It might just be that I still haven’t bought into Channing Tatum’s stardom. Or it might be a combination of all of the above. One way or another, Logan Lucky was mildly enjoyable, but hardly a film I’m gonna recommend to others. Your results may differ.
When his paychecks started to wear thin
Logan plotted an awkward break-in
Some set-up, this
How could you miss
With a blue-collar Daniel Ocean?
Rated PG-13, 118 Minutes
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Rebecca Blunt
Genre: The comedrama caper
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Those in the mood for hijinks
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: NASCAR officials
