Lucky Number Slevin 8. What a well crafted plot. "Stylish" movies take some getting used to initially, especially when they jump ankle deep into that style from the very beginning. The first thing that takes some getting used to is the dialog, which is sharp and clever, like you'd find in a novel. No real person talks this way, of course, but you quickly grow into it. The other bit of style you have to adjust to are the flashbacks, which come flying at you like machinegun fire sprayed from an oncoming Mig, but they're used to reinforce what's happening (which in some cases is almost necessary), so you get used to that too. Once you've made this volentary shift out of reality, Sleven grabs you pretty quickly. Acting, by a surprsing number of big names, is very good. "Sir Ben Kingsley" (as he's narcisistically credited in the film) gives the best performance I've ever seen him give. And if I was ever going to have a "girlfriend" again, I'd want it to be Lucy Liu's character. Sure, I've heard the Hollywood rumors that Lucy's simply a Bitch On Wheels, but damn if she doesn't play "cute & sexy" to the hilt.
Slevin is one of those movies whose plot succeeds in surprising me in a number of places... no small feat... yet those surprises make sense in the plot (unlike the truly awful Travolta film, Basic, whose twists and turns made me feel like I was riding a rodeo bull... its purpose was just to throw me off). I was subject to the suspense in several places. Like whomever penned Memento, the writers of Sleven deserve some recognition early next year. See it with confidence, and don't panic 5 or 6 minutes into it... You'll eventually slip into the stylish world of Slevin and feel.... dare I say.... lucky.  ¶ 1:07 PM