Being such a massive fan of Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, I really did not want to like Logan Lucky. They both were released in summer of 2017 and both centered about criminal heists and car chases. I saw some of the marketing from this film that subtly poked fun at and discredited Wright's film, and since I obviously did not appreciate that, I refused to see this movie. However, since awards season is in full swing and seeing how many people loved it, I gave in. And I must say, I was really not disappointed. This is a very original and interesting film that I would definitely recommend to any fan of heist movies and especially if you're into NASCAR.
This film, while I still do not believe it is nearly as re-watchable or enjoyable as Baby Driver, is still very good in many aspects. Some of these include the writing of the film, performances, and unexpected cameos. The writing of this film was definitely its outstanding quality, as the story was very original and took many different turns that I wasn't quite expecting. The story revolved around a pair of brothers (Channing Tatum and Adam Driver) who, low on money, decide to set up a heist to rob a motor speedway on the weekend of a huge NASCAR race. The writing throughout the entire film seemed very dry and emotionless, but I feel like that strangely worked for the tone of many of the characters and the setting. While there were no emotions present, it fit the personalities and actions of the varied cast of people, including Daniel Craig as a veteran criminal and Seth MacFarlane as a showy English racecar driver, complete with an 80's porn 'stache. I have to admit, though, that the writing appears very confusing and pointless for the majority of the film, up until the very end of the third act. This is when a lot of the plot points are resolved and things become a lot clearer. I was not expecting this kind of "twist" ending, but it absolutely fit the story.
Other things that I feel worked very well for the story include the use of soundtrack and the cleverly-utilized cameos. This was a very quiet film for the most part, with the only music appearing in a few select scenes. This film did not have much of an original score, but the music that it did use was placed at key scenes throughout the film, emphasizing certain aspects. The music almost appeared loud compared to the rest of the movie, which was overall very quiet. Audio editing is an amazing skill to master, so I give that team major props for making it work. The final, small element that I thought was a nice touch throughout the film were the cameos. I grew up in an automotive family, so NASCAR has always been a priority for my parents. Any fan of the automobile racing organization would recognize the countless number of drivers that made cameos, such as Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Blaney. They all played the roles of either security guards or police officers, so this move was very clever on their part, incorporating actual drivers from the world of what this film revolves around.
Logan Lucky is a very good film that has many great aspects, but also a few missed opportunities. This film had excellent performances, awesome use of audio and cameos, but I believe it missed the mark in some spots. For example, I think that Sebastian Stan and Seth MacFarlane's characters' subplot could have been utilized for the overall story better and that they could have had more screen time. It is understandable that Tatum and Driver are huge stars by themselves, but better incorporation of the entire cast would have helped, as the two lead stars could not seem to hold up a few scenes by themselves. Overall, this is a great movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a fun night in. Don't buy it though, rent it on Redbox or something and save yourself a bit of money.
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