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Features: DVD
Lucky Number Slevin is a comic thriller that twists and turns it's way through an underworld of crime and revenge where nothing is as it seems. Set in New York City, a case of mistaken identity lands Slevin (Josh Hartnett) into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses; The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat (Bruce Willis) and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to escape the maze alive. Also starring Lucy Liu, Lucky Number Slevin is directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Jason Smilovic.
"A deliciously tricky thriller..." Karen Durbin, Elle Magazine
"...stylish as hell with sharp dialogue..." Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
"The best crime thriller in years!" Shawn Edwards, Fox-TV
Editor's Note
Directed by Paul McGuigan, LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN is a mistaken identity thriller starring Josh Hartnett as a guy who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. With boldly colored sets covered in graphic wallpaper, the film has an almost comicbook-like feel, the emphasis being on visual entertainment rather than believability. When Slevin (Hartnett) shows up at his friend Nick's apartment in Manhattan, Nick is nowhere to be found. After meeting Nick's sharp and flirty neighbor, Lindsey (Lucy Liu), Slevin is kidnapped by two thugs and taken to meet the Boss (Morgan Freeman). Explaining that he is not Nick gets him nowhere, as the Boss and his arch rival, the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley), both pull Slevin (a wiseguy who spends much of the film in a lavender towel) deeper and deeper into a complicated underworld of murder and revenge. The clever dialogue and romance that grows between Hartnett and Liu gives the film a lighthearted charm. Even when orchestrating cold-blooded murder, the film's lead villains never seem too threatening. This is due in large part to the strong tongue-in-cheek performances of Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, and Morgan Freeman.Many of the film's plot twists rely on camera tricks and quick editing, which are used to deliberately confuse the viewer. While the storyline is convoluted and the film falls into a self-explanatory trap near the end, the world of LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN is never meant to be taken too seriously. Displaying a Tarantino-like self-awareness, the film makes frequent references to James Bond and vintage cinema, and contains such strong visual elements that viewers are forced to notice each character's surroundings. The film is incredibly stylish and old-fashioned in this way, with particular attention paid to each villain's dwelling, and with the production design often saying more than the characters themselves.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Lucky Number Slevin - DVD Review Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 9/20/2006 10:47 PM | | I cannot recall, in recent memory, a film comparable to Lucky Number Slevin. It does not pander or speak down to its audience, and it is one that causes you to question each characters motivations, and especially, every word they say. There is no clear-cut good guy-bad guy dynamic. In fact, if such a dynamic were to be portrayed as black and white, then this film is all about shades of gray. ...read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Wellspring Media Inc |
| Release Date: 9/16/2008 |
| Running Time: 109 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 79482 | | UPC: 00796019794824 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "An intoxicating hotchpotch of gangsters, gamblers, vengeance and paranoia....Hartnett's laid-back insouciance never deserts him..." 03/01/2006 p.128Sight and Sound
"[F]ull of baroque and bloody set-pieces....Throughout McGuigan juxtaposes joshing, comic interludes with material that is dark..." 04/01/2006 p.63-64 Entertainment Weekly
"Jason Smilovic's script, which keeps you guessing...has been staged with aggressive finesse by director Paul McGuigan..." -- Grade: B- 04/14/2006 p.64 USA Today
"[The film] will get under your skin with its stylish production design, slick dialogue and offbeat characters. This pop-culture-infused mistaken-identity thriller ultimately grabs hold and beguiles..." 03/31/2006 p.6E Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "The pleasure is in the throwaway dialogue, the artfully jumbled chronology and Lucy Liu, giving the movie a vital jolt of energy..." 07/01/2006 p.103 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his is one of the most intelligent and clever films you could hope to see." 08/01/2006 p.106 Variety 8 of 10
After a somewhat rough beginning with "Wicker Park," helmer Paul McGuigan and star Josh Hartnett advance to new levels of devious gamesmanship in "Lucky Number Slevin." Thoroughly -- and sometimes justifiably -- infatuated with its own cleverness, this mistaken-identity thriller delights in narrative complication and Tarantino-esque self-awareness; it's when the labyrinthine plot starts to make sense, ironically, that the pervasive shallowness becomes a liability. Stylishly made and loaded with marquee talent... - Justin Chang
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
The performances, to be sure, are juicy. A team of A-list actors do their specialty numbers, and it's fun to see pros at work..."Lucky Number Slevin," on the other hand, goes to some pains to make it clear it is only an exercise in style. Here we are looking at a crime mystery involving warring hoodlums and beautiful neighbors and a confused guy from out of town and a gunman and a cop, and the movie knows we're deluded and they're all just conceits. It's smarter than we are. Well, it must be, because it got us to watch it. - Roger Ebert
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