Lucky Number Slevin Review

The last time director Paul McGuigan ("Gangster No. 1") teamed up with actor Josh Hartnett, the result was the frankly disappointing aberration "Wicker Park". Fortunately this stylish crime flick proves that the pair can work well together. Hartnett stars as Slevin, a young man who, after catching his girlfriend doing the dirty on him, heads to New York to visit his old friend Nick. But his time in the Big Apple doesn't start well as he's mugged and has all his ID stolen. Things go from bad to worse for Slevin when he finds himself mistaken for Nick and caught up in a deadly feud between two aging gangsters, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman), while a mysterious hit man (Bruce Willis) plans a nasty surprise for someone.

Boasting more twists and turns than a bucket of eels, and the kind of stylish dialogue that only exists in gangster movies, "Lucky Number Slevin" is certainly a very watchable film. McGuigan pulls out all the visual tricks that made "Gangster No. 1" so memorable, and certainly makes the most of his highly impressive cast as the likes of Kingsley and Freeman (who are sharing the big screen for the first time) verbally spar in lavish '70s flavoured sets.

However the movie does have its problems; writer Jason Smilovic's script does occasionally get the idea that it's cleverer than it actually is, especially as there are plot holes so large that you could drive a bus through them. But given McGuigan and Hartnett's history, "Lucky Number Slevin" is a decent way to way banish painful memories - and you get the feeling crime caper King Guy Ritchie may just be looking on enviously!