Lucky Number Slevin

''Lucky Number Slevin'' (also known as ''The Wrong Man'' in Australia) is a 2006 black comedy neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Jason Smilovic. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, Ben Kingsley, and Morgan Freeman.

''Lucky Number Slevin'' was released in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2006, by Entertainment Film Distributors, and in the United States on April 7, 2006, by MGM Distribution Co.

Plot

Two bookies are separately ambushed and murdered. In a bus terminal, a young man is approached by Goodkat, who tells the story of Max: two decades earlier, Max borrowed money from the Mob to bet on a fixed horse race after eavesdropping on conversations between mobsters, only for the horse to collapse and die just short of the finish line. To set an example to make sure nobody else will try to bet on a fixed race, the Mob killed Max, his wife, and his son Henry. Goodkat then describes the " Kansas City Shuffle", a misleading double bluff, and kills the young man, taking the body in a truck.

In New York City, Slevin Kelevra is staying in his friend Nick Fisher's apartment and, upon being visited by neighbor Lindsey, discusses Nick's disappearance and why the apartment was unlocked. Lindsey suggests that Nick might be missing, and after she leaves, Slevin is kidnapped by two henchmen, who take him to "The Boss". Mistaking Slevin for Nick, The Boss orders him to repay a gambling debt or kill the son of his rival, "The Rabbi". Believing The Rabbi is responsible for assassinating his son (seen in the intro), The Boss wants The Rabbi's homosexual son, Yitzchok "The Fairy", to be killed in revenge. Slevin returns to the apartment but is kidnapped again, this time by two of The Rabbi's Jewish henchmen. The Rabbi also mistakes Slevin for Nick and also demands he repay a gambling debt. Slevin tells The Boss he will kill Yitzchok. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that Goodkat is involved with both sides, that he is responsible for Nick's debts being called in, and that he plans to kill Slevin after Yitzchok dies and make it look like they both committed suicide.

Slevin is approached by Detective Brikowski, who is investigating The Boss and The Rabbi. Brikowski has also been informed that Goodkat is back in town for the first time in twenty years and thinks there is a connection between The Boss, The Rabbi, Goodkat, and Slevin. After pretending to be gay, Slevin gets invited to Yitzchok's apartment, where he and Goodkat kill Yitzchok and his bodyguards. The two then kidnap The Boss and The Rabbi, whom they restrain in The Boss's penthouse. There, Slevin reveals he is Henry, Max's son. The mobsters who killed Max were The Boss and The Rabbi. Goodkat was the assassin hired to kill young Henry. After an attack of conscience, Goodkat raised Henry as his own. Slevin suffocates The Rabbi and The Boss by taping plastic bags over their heads, killing them the same way they killed his father. Since Lindsey photographed Goodkat while investigating Nick's disappearance, Goodkat shoots her to protect his identity.

While hunting for Slevin, Brikowski gets a phone call from his boss and learns the meaning of the pseudonym Slevin Kelevra: "Lucky Number Slevin" was the horse Max had bet on, and "Kelevra" is Hebrew for bad dog, mirroring Goodkat's name. Brikowski murdered Slevin's mother to pay his own gambling debts twenty years ago. As he hears this story, Brikowski resigns himself to his fate as Slevin appears in his back seat and shoots him dead.

Later, at the bus terminal, Slevin is met by Lindsey. Goodkat previously informed Slevin that he had to murder Lindsey. However, Slevin explained his true identity to Lindsey and helped fake her death. When Goodkat appears, aware of the deception, Slevin explains he had to save her and did not think Goodkat would understand. Having saved Slevin as a boy, Goodkat states that he understands and agrees to leave Lindsey alone. Goodkat returns Slevin's father's old watch and disappears into the crowd.

Cast

Release

Theatrical

After the filming was wrapped, The Weinstein Company paid less than $10 million to acquire the rights to distribute the film in the US and select overseas territories. For its US release on April 7, 2006, it was the first movie from The Weinstein Company to be distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as part of a three year distribution deal between Weinstein and MGM. The deal was terminated three months early in late 2008.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on September 12, 2006. and on Blu-ray November 8, 2008. To date, the film has made $26,877,256 in home video sales, bringing its worldwide total to $83,186,137. This does not include rentals or Blu-ray sales. In addition to Blu-Ray and DVD, this was one of the few films to be released on the failed HD-VMD format.

Reception

Box office

''Lucky Number Slevin'' opened in 1,984 theaters in North America and grossed $7,031,921, with an average of $3,544 per theater and ranking #5 at the box office. The film earned $22,495,466 domestically and $33,813,415 internationally for $56,308,881, above its $27 million budget. The film was profitable for its US rights owner The Weinstein Company.

Critical response

''Lucky Number Slevin'' has received mixed reviews. , the film holds approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews, with an average rating of . The critical consensus states, "Trying too hard to be clever in a ''Pulp Fiction'' kind of way, this film succumbs to a convoluted plot, overly-stylized characters, and dizzying set design." The film also has a score of 53 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 36 critics indicating mixed or average reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades

;Directors Guild of Canada
* Nominated: Outstanding Sound Editing – Feature Film

;Milan International Film Festival
* Won: Best Film ( Paul McGuigan)
* Won: Best Actor (Josh Hartnett)

;Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA:
* Nominated: Best Sound Editing for Music in a Feature Film
* Nominated: Best Sound Editing for Sound Effects and Foley in a Foreign Film

Censorship

In November 2023, amid the recognition of LGBT as an "extremist organization" in Russia, the film was censored on Kinopoisk: the word "fairy" () was bleeped out in the trailer. This was pointed out by journalist Damir Kamaletdinov, who shared the video on his own Twitter page. The scene in which Slevin (Josh Hartnett) and Boss (Morgan Freeman) talk about a man nicknamed Fairy—in English slang, this word is used to refer to a gay man pejoratively—was censored. According to representatives of the Kinopoisk platform, the copyright holder of the movie ''Lucky Number Slevin'' decided to censor out the word "fairy" from the picture.

References

External links

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''Lucky Number Slevin'' at AllMovie
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{{Paul McGuigan

2000s American films
2000s British films
2000s Canadian films
2000s English-language films
2000s German films
2006 black comedy films
2006 crime thriller films
2006 films
Alliance Films films
American black comedy films
American crime thriller films
American films about gambling
American gangster films
American neo-noir films
British black comedy films
British crime thriller films
British films about gambling
British gangster films
British neo-noir films
Canadian black comedy films
Canadian crime thriller films
Canadian films about gambling
Canadian gangster films
English-language black comedy films
English-language Canadian films
English-language crime thriller films
English-language German films
Films directed by Paul McGuigan
Films scored by J. Ralph
Films set in Manhattan
Films set in Montreal
Films set in New York City
Films shot in Montreal
Films shot in New York City
German action thriller films
German crime thriller films
German films about gambling
LGBTQ-related controversies in film
LGBTQ-related controversies in Russia
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
The Weinstein Company films