This Hitchcockantino-esque offering — a crude modern approximation of classic film noir — from director Paul McGuigan (“Wicker Park”) boasts a stellar cast of veteran thesps hammily spewing epigrammatic zingers as they navigate through scribe Jason Smilovic’s (he developed the tragically short-lived series “Karen Sisco”) slick, labyrinthine con game. One need only inspect the title to deduce that “Lucky Number Slevin” yearns to be clever, but the canniness that makes it interesting most of the way is also the very thing that ultimately kills a bit of the buzz. In Act Three, Smilovic and McGuigan get too cute for their film’s own good. character, a perpetual punching bag that happens to get mistaken for his deadbeat buddy who happens to be indebted to two New York organized crime bosses (Morgan “The Boss” Freeman and Sir Ben “The Rabbi” Kingsley) who happen to be at war with each other. Here it’s worth mentioning the film’s instant-classic moment: An across-the-street stare-down between The Boss and The Rabbi, who inhabit facing high-rises.
Bruce Willis is well cast as the chilly-as-cold-steel hit-man named Goodkat hired by both crime lords to off Slevin, but not before Slevin settles his tabs with them by offing their only sons. Confused yet? The filmmakers certainly hope so. From the get-go it’s clear that nothing is at it seems, and McGuigan and Smilovic effectively pull off several slights-of-hand even as they get caught cheating on some others. Their biggest flub may be allowing the wise-cracking Slevin to appear so utterly fearless in the presence of such ruthless thugs — a clear indication that our leading man isn’t the ordinary guy he’s purported to be. Lucy Liu is this murky pic’s bright light, playing against type as the sweet-tempered coroner next door who falls for Slevin.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 7, 2006. Read the original PDF.