Written by: Rebecca Blunt
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, Seth MacFarlane, Katherine Waterston, Sebastian Stan, Hilary Swank, Macon Blair
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during NASCAR race in North Carolina.
Verdict
A great collection of strange and off kilter characters make this a lot of fun. It's a country version of Ocean's Eleven at a NASCAR race, but it's also more than a redneck heist movie. The entire plan is absurd with the tension stemming from the assumption that surely these people can't pull off a heist of this magnitude. When things go wrong, you begin to wonder.
While the plot isn't revolutionary, the dialog, details, and setting make this unique.
Watch it.
Review
A football injury derailed Jimmy Logan's promising future. Years later, he's laid off from his job and learns his ex-wife is moving away with their daughter. Jimmy decides to act on a plan he's had for a long time, he's going to commit a robbery. He's going to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. His former construction job provides him inside knowledge, and he knows the perfect date to pull it off.
He begins to enlist family and acquaintances, all of which are varying degrees of rough and tumble. His brother Clyde, an Iraq war veteran missing a hand, agrees to help despite reservations. Jimmy recruits an incarcerated safe cracker, Joe Bang, who finds the whole plan dubious because, as he points out, they're visiting him in jail. All the actors do a great job, but Daniel Craig as Joe Bang is really impressive when you realize he's been James Bond. Everyone had to have a lot of fun playing such odd characters. This is set in the South and all the actors have a heavy Southern twang. The movie's goal isn't to disparage Southerners as simple minded. Jimmy has put a lot of thought into this plan.
Joe Bang stipulates his brothers need to be included in the robbery as internet experts. One of the brothers proudly proclaims, "All the Twitters, I know 'em." Will this plan work? It's a fun setup. The plan has to be moved ahead of schedule as Jimmy's former construction company is about to leave which would curtail his access.
While plenty of things don't go exactly as predicted, I kept wondering if Jimmy and his crew were going to make it. I wondered if the Bang brothers would pose an issue that resulted in the downfall of everyone..
There are more than a few twists and turns with lots of surprises. The completion of the heist is pretty slick. A few details of how things went down are revealed after the fact and Jimmy had more than a few ingenious ideas.
The cast is fairly large, with many of the supporting cast having starred in their own movies. Race car drivers Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have quick roles as state troopers.
Screenwriter Rebecca Blunt is an unknown, presumed to be a pseudonym for director Soderbergh's wife Jules Asner to prevent any hint of nepotism.
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