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- Cert:
- Cat.no: EDV 9391
- Running time: 105 minutes
- Year: 2006
- Pressing: 2006
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Trailer, The Making of Lucky Number Slevin
Director:
- Paul McGuigan
(The Acid House, The Equilizer (2007), Four Knights, Gangster No.1, Lucky Number Slevin, The Reckoning, Wicker Park, TV: Thief)
Producers:
- Christopher Eberts, Andy Grosch, Kia Jam, Robert Kravis, Tyler Mitchell, Anthony Rhulen and Chris Roberts
Screenplay:
- Jason Smilovic
Music:
- Joshua Ralph
Cast:
- Slevin: Josh Hartnett
Smith: Bruce Willis
Lindsey: Lucy Liu
The Boss: Morgan Freeman
The Rabbi: Ben Kingsley
Yitzchok: Michael Rubenfield
Dumbrowski: Peter Outerbridge
Brikowski: Stanley Tucci
Marty: Kevin Chamberlin
Elvis: Dorian Missick
Sloe: Mykelti Williamson
Max: Scott Gibson
Nick Fisher: Sam Jaeger
Roth: Danny Aiello
Henry: Oliver Davis
Saul: Corey Stoll
Abe: Howard Jerome
Murphy: Robert Forster
Slim Hopkins: Darren Marsman
I was intrigued by Lucky Number Slevinas it had a premise of appearing like a comedy gangster thriller with Bruce Willis.
As this film begins we see an almost-deserted airport lounge where a young man sits down waitingto be called for his flight. Bruce appears at his side, sat in a wheelchair, and in in the way playshis usual calm and collected character, he introduces himself as Smith and tells him about the KansasCity Shuffle, something which you’ll learn more as you watch the film – although it’s basically aboutlooking both ways before you leap – and tells him a tale about a man who claimed he would only beton a sure thing when it came to horse racing, but it all goes wrong and he lands himself in debtto some very bad men.
Shortly after, we see Slevin (Josh Hartnett), a man who has lost his job, flat and girlfriendand accepts the offer from a friend called Nick Fisher to fly out and take up employment with him. Onhis arrival, Nick is nowhere to be found but despite happening to be in an apartment opposite a rathersexy neighbour, Lindsey (Lucy Liu), his day isn’t going particularly well and when the first ofmany knocks on the door comes, he’s whisked away by two men who tell him they work for The Boss (MorganFreeman) and finds himself drawn into a mob situation while still in his towel, such is the speedat which things happen once he touches down and, assumed to be the real Nick Fisher, he’s told he hasto get vengeance for The Boss’ son who was murdered recently by taking out the son of his arch-nemesis,The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley).
Josh Hartnett is given the smart-talking role, the kind of thing Bruce Willis used to get early on inhis career in Moonlighting and he applies it well as he becomes embroiled in a game of cat andmouse between the two rivals, although at one point, given that bad things happen to him almost everytime Slevin opens his apartment door, it’s a wonder he continues to do so. Lucy Liu also equips herselfvery well as the nosy neighbour who quickly jumps into his life and wants to help him find Nick, puttingher very analytical mind to use, starting off by finding out that the last person to ring Nick up turnedout to be a mysterious phone call from a hotel.
To give more information about the film would be to spoil what comes next, but I will say that thingscompletely turn around in the last 25 minutes and what started off as engaging all falls apart as theycan’t think of an ending that makes sense, leaving you with a feeling of this being one of those filmswhere you enjoy things as the characters begin to attempt to unravel a mystery and then the final revealis just very poor indeed.
Presented in the original 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, the print looks very good even in the drab apartmentsegments. There are also some split-screen scenes revolving around a game of chess that certainly couldn’tbe cropped to 16:9, although time will tell whether the Super 35 process used will be able to strike adecent 16:9 print that doesn’t involve the usual straight cropping. Why TV stations just can’t accept thatthe world and his wife do not have a great objection to black bars, given the huge amount of DVDs sold overthe past few years, is anyone’s guess.
The DD5.1 sound is used to good effect when a quick death at the hand of a sharp trigger finger isrequired, but this isn’t massively often.
The only extras are a trailer for the movie, running for 2 minutes and in anamorphic 2.35:1, plus aMaking of Lucky Number Slevin (13:18) featurette, presented in 4:3 with letterboxed film clipsthat mixes in the usual affair of film clips, behind-the-scenes footage shot during filming and randomchat from key cast and crew members.
There are subtitles in English only, a total of 16 chapters which are spaced out quite badly (chapter 12doesn’t come until 13 minutes in) and a main menu with sound and a short piece of looped footage from thefilm that ‘rewinds’ quite nicely.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.