Soderbergh returns to the big screen with an all new heist from old town West Virginia
The Logan family are ironically not known for their luck. After a string of accidents and incidents, the brothers and sister Logan decide to roll the dice once more to break the curse. Losing his job and feeling his daughter slipping away, Jimmy, the high school hero and now out of work miner, takes a stab at a ten-point plan for robbing the local NASCAR speedway. He can’t do this without first convincing his brother Clyde to step in, however after getting him incarcerated once before he is moderately reticent. Sister Mellie seems the most blasé about the entire affair and maintains her schedule at the local salon throughout the proceedings. The trio are perfectly embodied by Tatum, Driver and Riley Keough, only proving stereotypes on a skin-deep level which makes their heist all the cleverer. Their slow but cutting wit leaves a satisfying aftertaste of comedy without appearing to be trying overly hard.
Daniel Craig as Joe Bang is introduced onto the scene as a bizarre and intense criminal mastermind. With his blue eyes cutting through a very controlled demeanour you are never quite sure what he might do next, like eat boiled eggs all day with medically reproduced salt. It is refreshing to see Craig giving a unique, character driven performance and must have been a welcome break from the monotony of being 007. While Joe Bang is certainly one of the figureheads of the movie it must be pointed out that both Clyde and the young daughter are both excellent characters, Jimmy is full blooded and enjoyable but given that it really is Channing Tatum being his usual self the consistency stops the character standing out.
As to the heist itself there is no shortage of slick scripting, bumps along the way and surprises. The style does not feel alien from Soderberg but given its slow pacing and unusual setting there is a living breathing heart at the centre of this movie. The plot feels as lazy and unwilling to explain itself as the characters that are in it, something that I still cannot fathom as it either makes or breaks the movie. While the plot is clearly very clever there are great swathes of things that remain unexplained or underplayed, for example the performances of Riley Keough, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes and Katherine Waterston leave you wondering why the rest of their clips must have remained on the cutting room floor.
Having blown the vault doors off this heist with great character and style Soderberg has revealed a great many treasures inside. It is a shame he brought such a small bag and had so little time but he definitely got the crown jewels. I would certainly recommend this as a cinema or Blu-ray watch, I will definitely be adding this to my film collection as soon as it is released.
Author: Joe, Bath Store
