By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
Let’s face it: crime capers are fun — and Steven Soderbergh’s “Logan Lucky” may be his best. It’s a blast.
After a leg injury sidelined him from a football career, Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) traded his helmet for a hard-hat. But now his limp means he can’t even hold a construction job.
Commiserating with his bartender brother Clyde (Adam Driver), whose forearm was blown off in Iraq, Jimmy comes up with an idea. They’re gonna rob North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway — with a bit of help from their hairdresser sister Mellie (Riley Keough, Elvis’ granddaughter).
Jimmy’s worked underground at the Speedway and has inside information about the complex pneumatic tubing system that sluices cash from the souvenir and concession stands into the speedway’s vault. Seemingly dimwitted Jimmy is a man with a plan.
But he needs an explosives expert. So he enlists infamous Joe Bang (scene-stealing Daniel Craig), who’s currently incarcerated in a nearby West Virginia prison. But Bang insists on including his Born Again hillbilly brothers, Sam (Brian Gleeson) and Fish (Jack Quaid, son of Meg Ryan/Dennis Quaid).
After a few setbacks, it’s time for the good ‘ol boys to launch their larcenous lark at NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day.
Don’t discount the slick heist’s subplot involving Jimmy’s precocious daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie) with ex-wife (Katie Holmes), who’s competing in a Little Miss West Virginia pageant. The opening scene involves Jimmy explaining to Sadie why he loves John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
Less effective is another detour involving a pompous, loudmouth British racer (Seth McFarlane). But casting Hilary Swank and Katherine Waterston in pivotal bit parts makes up for any shortcomings.
Working from a complicated, convoluted screenplay from Rebecca Blunt (a Soderbergh pseudonym?), inventive director/cinematographer/editor Steven Soderbergh excels in lighthearted, off-kilter comedy.
And concluding disclaimer notes, “Nobody was robbed during the making of this movie. Except you.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Logan Lucky” is an amusing, escapist 8: “Oceans 7-Eleven.”
“Kidnap” revolves around Karla Dyson (Halle Berry) and her six year-old son Frankie (Sage Correa). A single mother, she works as a waitress in a Louisiana diner, spending all of her free time with her boy.
While Frankie’s playing at a nearby amusement park, Karla steps away to take a phone call from her attorney; apparently, her ex-husband is suing for sole custody. When she looks up, Frankie’s gone.
Frantically searching, she spies a woman shoving Frankie into a teal-colored Mustang GT and driving off. Running after the kidnapper, distraught Karla drops her cellphone in the parking lot.
Climbing into her red Chrysler minivan, she takes off in pursuit. “As long as my son is in that car, I will not stop,” she vows. “Wherever you go, I will be right behind you.”
Recklessly weaving in and out of traffic on highways and back roads, Karla leaves not only wrecked cars in her wake but also critically injured bystanders, including a motorcycle policeman. Collateral damage.
When she stops at a local sheriff’s office, the desk officer tells her to wait. Looking at a bulletin board filled with photos of missing children, Karla realizes she hasn’t a moment to spare.
Eventually, Karla discovers that there are two abductors, Terry and Margo Vicky (Chris McGinn, Lew Temple), a confrontational backwoods couple who are operating a child trafficking ring out of an old farmhouse near a swamp on a dead-end road.
Working from Knate Lee’s pulpy, simplistic script that often defies logic, director Luis Prieto (“Pusher”) amps the suspense, keeping the tension taut, as Karla vows, “You messed with the wrong mother!”
FYI: According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 800,000 children are abducted in the United States each year; that’s roughly 2,000 a day!
On the Granger Gauge, “Kidnap” is a frenetic 5, a high-octane chase thriller.
No better than the cartoons you can see on television, “Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” zeros in on squirrels Surly (voiced by Will Arnett) and Andie (voiced by Katherine Heigl), who are obviously destined for one another but face a number of obstacles on a circuitous road to romance.
Perpetually grumbling Surly and the rest of his gluttonous gang hang out in abandoned Nibbler’s Nut Shop near Liberty Park, gobbling artisanal, previously shelled morsels. Conscientious Andie is annoyed by their slothful behavior and relieved when an explosion destroys the dilapidated building.
But then Oakton City’s corrupt Mayor (voiced by Bobby Moynihan) announces plans to bulldoze their park, turning it into “Liberty Land,” an amusement center, avoiding safety compliance to maximize profits. We know he’s a bad guy because his car’s vanity license plate is MBEZZLIN.
Rising in protest, Surly, Andie and their cohorts are unexpectedly aided by white-furred Mr. Feng (voiced by Jackie Chan), who lives in Chinatown, having mysteriously evolved from a street rodent into a “weapon of mouse destruction.”
Plus, there’s Precious (voiced by Maya Rudolph), a scrappy, popeyed pug that frolics with Frankie (voiced by Bobby Cannavale), the Mayor’s daughter’s French bulldog who, after lapping up her regurgitated food, whines, “What are you, vegan? It’s go no taste!”
Scripted by director Cal Brunker with co-writers Bob Barlen and Scott Bindley, this anthropomorphic sequel underlines the value of friendship and working together toward a common goal, amid the chaos caused by a rolling Ferris wheel-on-fire and a real mole playing Whack-a-Mole, noting, “The very existence of this game offends me!”
On the Granger Gauge, “Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” scurries in as a frenzied 4, a back-to-school time-waster.
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
