With the recent inclusion of the film Logan Lucky to Netflix, the streaming giant has added another cinema gem to its collection. This heist comedy follows the blue-collar members of the Logan family as they try to pull off a robbery at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a NASCAR race, which is heavily guarded by both security and the FBI.
It’s one of the more distinctive heist films to come out in recent years, and with a staggering 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has proven itself to be an underrated modern classic just waiting for a bigger audience. Now that film is on Netflix, here are the reasons why viewers should pick this film to watch on their movie night.
The cast is pretty awesome
Thanks to his high status in Hollywood, director Steven Soderbergh succeeded in assembling a star-studded cast to help him make a strong comeback with Logan Lucky. Led by the ever-enjoyable Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, Deadpool & Wolverine), this film features many big talents like Adam Driver (Ferrari, Megalopolis), Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted), Riley Keough (Zola, The Lodge), Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Katie Holmes (Batman Begins, Poker Face), Sebastian Stan (I, Tonya, A Different Man), Jack Quaid (Scream, The Boys), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby, I Am Mother), and Daniel Craig (No Time to Die, Knives Out).
With such a popular and capable lineup, it’s somewhat baffling that this movie didn’t make more money at the box office.
The film’s quirky sense of humor
Logan Lucky is packed with a variety of oddball characters who each breathe life and hilarity into the story in their own way, conveying the casual kookiness found in the everyday Americans that this film puts on display. The story also draws laughs with the bizarre and unexpected ways the protagonists’ low-budget heist unfolds.
This is best encapsulated in the scene where Craig’s character builds a makeshift explosive out of gummy bears and bleach, gives his teammates a chemistry lesson in the middle of their plan, and accidentally shoots the bomb back at themselves.
This comedic approach makes for a clever, entertaining subversion of the smooth and glitzy heist films that Ocean’s Eleven helped popularize. But overall, this film features many wacky but grounded moments that audiences can’t help but laugh at while watching.
One honorable mention is the scene in which a bunch of prisoners hold security guards hostage, demanding they be given George R.R. Martin’s long-awaited novel The Winds of Winter (a lot of Game of Thrones fans can relate to the frustration in this scene).
The movie’s heartfelt story
Though Logan Lucky features the protagonists trying to commit a daring NASCAR heist, at its heart, the film is a classic underdog story of regular, low-income people trying to make it big for once and afford a better life for themselves. Many people can relate to Tatum’s lead as a laid-off construction worker and Driver’s one-armed Iraq War veteran, especially as the former struggles to be a part of his little daughter’s life following his divorce from his ex-wife.
The film reaches an emotional climax when Tatum’s character attends his daughter’s beauty pageant after his heist, and she surprises him by singing his favorite song, Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver, bringing him and the audience to tears. Such a scene makes viewers think about what’s most important in life. All in all, Logan Lucky is the quirky and tender film that many audiences may be looking for to help wrap up the summer this August.
It’s directed by Steven Soderbergh
Many cinephiles know the versatile Soderbergh for his work directing several beloved films, including Ocean’s Eleven, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Contagion, and Magic Mike. Having won the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for Best Director, Soderbergh has proven himself one of the most capable filmmakers in the industry today.
He may have fallen under the radar in the past decade, but Soderbergh came out of retirement to direct Logan Lucky and continues to dabble in more experimental pictures, such as the iPhone-filmed thriller Unsane and the upcoming first-person horror film Presence.
Despite his name being attached to this acclaimed picture, Logan Lucky has unjustly become an overlooked part of Soderbergh’s rich filmography since its release. Even those not fond of Soderbergh’s more avant-garde projects can see the appeal in the movie. One may even consider it the not-so-glamorous successor to the director’s popular Ocean’s trilogy (the heist is literally called “Ocean’s Seven-Eleven” in the film).
Logan Lucky is now streaming on Netflix.