Channing Tatum stars as Jimmy Logan, Riley Keough as Mellie Logan and Adam Driver as Clyde Logan in Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky,
Late in Logan Lucky, Steven Soderbergh's return from semi-retirement (if you can call helming all two seasons of The Knick a retirement), a TV news anchor refers to the film's central thieves as the "Ocean's 7-Eleven." That sums things up rather perfectly. Logan Lucky is a crackerjack heist film that strongly echoes Soderbergh's other crackerjack heist franchise, but with a uniquely downmarket and genuinely affectionate charm all its own. Following the exploits of three hard-luck West Virginian siblings (Adam Driver and Soderbergh regulars Channing Tatum and Riley Keough) as they plot a so-crazy-it-just-might-work NASCAR robbery, the film practically bounces off the jailhouse walls with its manic, zippy energy. As expected with a Soderbergh project, there are ambitious twists and a timeline that jumps around just enough to demand a second viewing. But the film hits a truly unexpected high when it introduces Daniel Craig's bank-vault expert Joe Bang, an imprisoned force of comic fury whose unhinged performance elevates Logan Lucky above any notions of genre shtick. Good luck keeping that one locked up.
Barry Hertz