Kaiser Sose returns...(Lucky Number Slevin Review)

...well almost. That name is eteched in the mind of any movie-lover, made famous by the Usual Suspects character (the man who wasn't there). Same goes for Slevin - unusual name but unfortunately not a cracker of a movie. But its good in its own way. Shall elaborate on that.

The Plot: A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin (Josh Hatnett) in the middle of a war being plotted by two of New York'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 he finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them before they get him.

Trailer

Sounds simple but the treatment is the lemme-be-clever thriller which convolutes the plot, the movie switches back and forth through past and present. If you have seen enough movies, you get the hang of it soon, but you want to see the whole movie because of the cast and the dialogues (sometimes corny, sometimes wise-guy) and one-liners.

Sample this:

Slevin: They call him the Rabbi.
Lindsey (Lucy Liu): Why is that?
Slevin: Because he's a Rabbi.

Also, the not-so-subtle hint within the movie that Josh Hartnett would have made a better Bond. Slevin is talking to Lindsey and she compares him to James Bond and he says its the greatest compliment he's ever heard. What will Craig Daniel do now? I would have liked Clive Owen. Anyways.

Kingsley would be my fave actor of the movie. Smooth, portraying the Rabbi, some awesome dialogues and tongue-twisters included. Freeman is good as usual. Willis is fitting into those roles which were made for Arnie and Stallone. No expressions, no acting required usually. Hartnett and Liu are spunky and hold the movie together. Hartnett plays the wise-guy turned ... quite well. All in all a good popcorn movie. Very slick production. Good to see it with friends on a friday night. (Thats what I did).

And yes, if you were wondering what the Kansas City Shuffle was head here.

Further reviews:
RogerEbert
RollingStone (loved how they summed the movie up: If Pulp Fiction impregnated Usual Suspects)
Rotten Tomatoes
NYT

Oh, before I end watch the trailer of Little Man. Must be the biggest crappy movie ever made. How do they even think of these?