Released: 04/06/06

Viewed: 5:10pm 04/07/06

Starring: josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci

Directed by: Paul McGuigan

Fox Searchlight Official Site of the movie

Report from George Jones agent 337 23:09 04/18/06

About Today’s comic:

Those of you paying attention will know exactly what’s going on. Those of you not paying attention will wonder when Irv got a job at a movie theater. Just for the record that is not Irv and a random Asian-American friend, they happen to be two characters from fellow movie themed comic Multiplex.

The official reason that members of the Multiplex crew are in today’s strip is that we here at GLCM are huge fans of Multiplex and have fallen in love with these guys so much that we couldn’t picture anyone else in the role of theater worker.

The un-official reason is that I couldn’t see wasting time inventing new characters when there were perfectly good ones waiting to stand in. Either way Multiplex is a grand comic about movies from the perspective of the theater worker. That perspective makes the work creator Gordon McAlpin is doing on the strip not only a lot of fun but important. On to the review.

Lucky Number Slevin is the perfect American crime caper. Fast plot, fast-talk, and hot Asian women working in the morgue. Once I got past the obvious spelling errors, the outward disrespect for the law, and my deep seeded hatred for Sir(HA!)Ben Kingsley I absolutely fell in love with the movie from top to bottom.

Slevin tells the story of Slevin Kalevra (Josh Harnett) a young man that is the victim of mistaken identity. It seems the man everyone thinks he is owes all the wrong people enough money to kill over. Not having a dime to his name he becomes another piece in a masterminds grand scheme of revenge and betrayal. It’s a cautionary tale to not gamble and not associate with people that gamble. If you do you’ll just end up shanking some deadbeat in a coat checkroom while you’re “looking for your lost gloves.� Who wears gloves in April anyway? Criminals, that’s who.

The story is graphic, filled with sex, harsh language, and a tremendous amount of violence. Nearly everyone you meet will wind up dead so you shouldn’t get too attached to any one character. This subject matter will not be acceptable to all audiences, in fact there was an elderly woman seated in front of me that was consistently surprised with every gunshot and curse word. As if the opening killings weren’t accurate indicator of what was to come. I admit I let out a hardy laugh when she leaned over to her group of friends and exclaimed “Who picked this movie!?�

Those with weak hearts should avoid Slevin. Not because it’s too graphic but more because when you punks point out how unnecessarily bloody something is, it distracts the rest of us from enjoying the unnecessary amount of blood. Stay home you old fuddy duddy.

Even stronger than the multifaceted plot and surprise twist ending is the cast of actors assembled. Harnett does a fine job as the lead and uses his strong presence to carry the movie with seemingly little struggle. Bruce Willis as the mysterious specialty hitman brings that famous steely glare to the role which has him effortlessly killing and destroying with no regret and no emotion. He’s a natural born killer.

Reminds me of myself a little. Through most of the movie he’s able to separate himself from the kill and just take care of business. Do what needs to be done. Most viewers will mistake this for “bad ass� but this level of killer is so far beyond “bad ass� that you candy ass cinima-freaks couldn’t begin to grasp the gravity of the situation.

The strongest performances in the movie are those of the rival crime bosses played by Morgan Freeman and Kingsley. Freeman is always good. That’s a given, even the Multiplex guys agree in today’s comic, but Kingsley is another story completely. It’s no secret that Kingsley and I have a past filled with more hatred and more bloodshed then the one I share with David Cross. And after the disaster that was Bloodrayne I was certain that our feud would never come to an end. It wasn’t until halfway through his first scene as the vicious and brutal Rabi that I remembered how good an actor he can actually be.

His background and monologues are the most effective in all of Slevin. With his Jewish New York City accent he drives home every sentence and every word. In this performance every syllable is important, and of all the characters in the film when he talks… you listen. He was fabulous. If I saw him on the street today I’d punch him square in the kidneys, but it would be with a love and respect that was never there before.

If Slevin has one fault it is in it’s final reveal. The idea is a good one but it’s dragged along far too long as the movie has more endings than Return of the King. You’ll be entertained by how things resolve but you’ll be waiting for it to finally end so you can go out and talk about it.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Lucky Number Slevin was a great surprise and has become one of my favorite films since taking over this strip last month. Some small pacing problems being it’s only flaw are completely forgivable in this clever tale that will have you questioning the character’s influence and reasoning to the very end. It makes being bad look like a lot of fun.

DVD worthy?:

Absolutely. The ladies will love seeing Josh Hartnett spend a third of the movie in nothing but a towel. The guys will love seeing his nose broken in several different ways.

If you liked this movie check out: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Even though Slevin isn’t a British crime caper, it’s as close as an American crime caper is going to get to having the big brass balls and great twist endings that are so synonymous with those films. One of the better representatives of that world is Guy Richie’s Lock Stock and Two smoking Barrells. Lock Stock boasts an inspired and original story and fantastic cast of characters. Even though they’re criminals and low life scum that the Republican in me hates, the bad ass inside can’t help but appreciate how cold blooded they are. If Great Britain was filled with a million men like Vinnie Jones then the US would be in some serious trouble. Trailer hitch: Wes Anderson American Express commercial

For so long people have been complaining about commercials before movies. Granted they can be bothersome but theaters need to make their money back somehow what with all the theater hopping and nipple twisting scaring off would be paying customers. Finally a movie commercial comes along that is not only not annoying, but even entertaining. The American Express commercial featuring Wes Anderson.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Anderson myself. He seems like nothing more than an overrated hipster telling the same story over and over again. I bet he’s a hippie. I bet he’s a vegetarian – except for fish!

But in the recent weeks I’ve found a new appreciation for his work and was delighted by his three minute commercial before Slevin. The upbeat pacing, steady cam shot, and non-stop talking really worked well. He looks like a no nonsense guy that can get the job done, get it done quick, and get it done well. And the bayonet on a 357 is a stroke of GENIUS! The US Army will be instituting this idea on all weaponry from now on.

Vote Incentive

After a hiatus GLCM has been added back to the top 100 lists both at Buzzcomix and Top Web Comics. Voting at Buzz right now will get you a picture of my favorite character from Multiplex. We’ll try both for a period of time and then focus our energy on whichever works out better. Gaining acceptance in these new communities could prove to be difficult so do the right thing. Support GLCM!

If you must, here is a link to Joe's review.