Lucky Number Slevin

Behind the camera, director Paul McGuigan and writer Jason Smilovic are both White men, as are main characters Slevin and Goodkat. In a key role, Chinese American actor Lucy Liu plays Lindsey, whose ethnicity never comes up. Lindsey is a token love interest; she's a flat character without any other relationships in her life, but she does have several scenes. Other than brief flashbacks to a character's mom, no other women appear in this male-driven story. The two primary gangs are led by Black and Jewish characters; Black gangsters are portrayed as stereotypical "thugs" who use African American Vernacular English to convey toughness and are generally depicted as unintelligent. Jewish characters are less stereotypical (perhaps helped by the presence of Jewish screenwriter Smilovic behind the lens), but the wearing of yarmulkes and payot (or sidecurls) by villains, plus the mob leader's nickname of "The Rabbi," may feel insensitive to the Jewish faith. The Rabbi's son, Yitzchok, is called "The Fairy" for being gay; he wears cliched "flamboyant" and pink clothing. His death by multiple gunshots and charred remains can feel homophobic given that he's the only openly gay character in the film.

Frequent killings and beatings involving mobsters and assassins (knifings, shootings, nose-breaking, neck-breaking, punching faces and stomachs, poisoning). A character is shot in his car (windows break, blood splatters); a horse takes a bad spill on a track; a woman is shot off-screen (viewers see blood splatter); a boy watches his dad get murdered by plastic bag suffocation; explosion; and several dead bodies covered in blood. Lindsey works in a morgue and deals with dead bodies (one is grotesquely burned). A character is described as landing in prison for "forcing himself on a 14-year-old cheerleader."

Two main characters flirt for much of the film -- there's a morning-after scene with the two implied to be naked in bed (blankets pulled up to their armpits) as they make out. Two other sex scenes include characters thrusting into a woman from behind -- in one, nothing sensitive is shown, but she's called a "hooker" by the narrator. In the other, rear ends and bare breasts are visible. Someone is nicknamed "Jerkins Perkins" for giving "hand jobs." A male character spends several scenes wearing only a towel slung low around his waist (a woman accidentally sees his penis -- it's played for humor, and nothing is visible to the viewer).

Frequent use of "f--k" (over 30 instances), plus "s--t," "ass," "bitch," "damn," and "goddamn." Sexual terms include "t--ties," "pr--k," "penis," and "hand job." A gay character is nicknamed "The Fairy," and a sex worker is called a "hooker" by the narrator.

Characters drink alcohol -- gin, whiskey, and wine. People are poisoned and die.