The famous crime fiction author Elmore Leonard had a very quirky and interesting (and funny and utterly readable) way of siting his shady characters (leads included) in different genres, be it in the glitzy and self-obsessed world of Hollywood ('Get Shorty') on one end, and on the far end of the other side, a period setting in Central America during the turn of the 20th century during the heights of colonial expansion ('Cuba Libre') and everything in between. The setting and the genre mattered to him the least. He was more interested in the traditional structure of what the characters wanted and what stood in their way of realizing their goals, paying particular attention to the way they talked, never more than in a sentence or two, and relying (almost entirely) on it to carry forward the plot. In 'Rum Punch' (made into 'Jackie Brown') or 'Out of Sight', the lure of that one final 'job' that could have the lead characters riding away into the proverbial sunset and everything around them conspiring from having that happen, setting the stage for chaos, luck, foolhardiness and foolishness collide, collude and clash in the most entertaining way possible on this side of the crime fiction medium.

Following the surprise success of his debut feature 'Sex, Lies and Videotape', Steven Soderbergh, after a few artistic mis-steps, found his eventual directorial signature while tackling the adaptation of Leonard's 'Out of Sight', about low life criminals and hard boiled cops intersecting each others lives and plans in hilarious and hair-raising ways. This was the movie that created the Soderbergh style - the matter of fact, understated, even muted style, a tone he applied practically to every movie and genre he tackled from then on. That he that borrowed that dry style from Elmore Leonard was quite evident in the way the structure appeared too disjointed in the start, unravelling itself slowly along the way, and even after the final reveal at the end, the characters went on with their lives unaffected/unfazed by the windfall that befell them. When tackling the crime fiction, Soderbergh remains the mirror image of Leonard's plotting and understatement, with a great ear to the colorful dialogue and a great eye to intricate detail. That was why it was a surprise when "Ocean's 11" was announced with the galaxy of stars, which was completely antethetical to Soderbergh's style, who relied more on content than presentation. However in the end result, the wattage was all tempered down from what could have been ego stoking self-indulgence of the multitude of stars, to the point that they even sacrificed/satirized their own images for the purpose of a laugh. Even the heist genre undergoes the Soderbergh treatment, despite the familiar beats of wronged heroes, impossible task, assembling exercise, the last minute twist and the eventual pull-off, with razor sharp dialogue, the deglamorized photography (which he himself shoulders the responsibility of), the editing style, all aiming at toning down and putting a solid lid on the pulsating excitement. It is a double edged sword, this peculiar tone, particularly in this heist genre, for, when it comes off well, the result is truly exhilarating, but when it goes off the mark, the 'coolness' inadvertently works against its own self rendering it self-indulgent, the same thing it was carefully avoiding (like the subsequent Ocean's adventures).

'Logan Lucky' is essentially an 'Ocean's 11' redux and that is not neessarily a bad thing. After the perfunctory part concerning the reasons for the heist is done away with, the fun part emerges - the what and the how. Heist movies squarely rest on the shoulders of these two, what to steal and how to pull it off (the why is merely to set up the heroes and the villains part, it in no way contributes to the proceedings) and the setting of the movie in the backyard of mainstream America is particularly refreshing (similar to the last year's gem 'Hell or High water') far away from high rolling or the tight fisted milieus (the casinos, the banks, the vaults) that heist movies usually find themselves, and that sits right well with the Soderbergh aesthetic. And when it gets to the 'how' part, the movie ramps up on the fun quotioent, employing actors against the stereotypes (a hard-nosed Bond traded for a stiff-lipped hillbilly, a TV animation star becomes a billionnaire pill), playing homages when applicable (the slow yet moral brothers tipping their hats to the Mormon twins from Ocean's 11), keeping the dialogue pithy and witty allowing the details to emerge after the fact, all this while keeping its feet firmly on the ground at all times. The camera movement (not the angles, but the actual movement) is lock in step with the tone hiding the reveal of the scene right till the last moment, and even when it happens, the unforgiving editing rarely allows any lingering or savoring, it simply cuts away. With top notch performances, dry humor, taut script (save for the last few minutes that tries hard setting itself up for a sequel, again, a hangover from the first Ocean's outing) and able technical maneuvering, 'Logan Lucky' is a worthy addition to the list of respectable heist movies (starting from 'Rififi' down to 'The Italian Job'), and that is a tough job to pull off in this current age of hi-tech and hi-brow heists.

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