Lucky Number Slevin

What’s the Story?

Slevin (Josh Hartnett) leaves his unfaithful girlfriend and takes up residence in a friend's New York City apartment. Soon, Slevin finds himself mixed up in a war between two criminal kingpins: the Boss (Morgan Freeman) and Schlomo (Ben Kingsley), also called the Rabbi. They despise one another, share a history of violence and revenge, and live in stunning penthouse apartments facing one another across the street. And they think Slevin is "Nick," who owes $96,000 in gambling money, and before you can say "North by Northwest," Slevin is faced with impossible choices. The Boss invites Slevin-as-Nick to erase the debt by killing Schlomo's gay son (retaliation for a previous murder). And everyone is under the mostly misinformed scrutiny of muttery Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci).

Is It Any Good?

Proudly clever, LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN sets up a range of characters for collisions and takedowns. At the center is Slevin, partly lucky, partly ingenious, mostly Josh Hartnett, with scruffy hair, bared torso, and eyes slightly squinty as he peers at the camera, inviting you to guess what he's thinking. At a train station, Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) tells Slevin (Josh Hartnett) a story about cheats, killers, and gamblers, with a lesson on what he calls the "Kansas City shuffle," which he describes thusly: "It's when everybody looks right and you go left." Check. Lucky Number Slevin is a caper movie, with tricks and turns and characters who aren't who they seem.