This post was originally published on Dishwater Lemonade…about a year ago.
The Academy Awards are this Sunday. There is a lot that we already know about who will win, despite the way time generally works. If I bet one hundred dollars right now (Thursday afternoon) on Gary Oldman, and Frances McDormand to each win best actor and actress, I would stand to make about five bucks should they take home the hardware. Get Out is creeping up in the best picture race, while it seems like the polarizing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri has overtaken Guillermo Del Toro’s technically sound cold war fantasy The Shape of Water.
While all of these storylines are interesting, I’m not here to write about them. I’m here to write about one of my favorite movies from 2017 that you won’t see showered with awards come Sunday evening: Logan Lucky… Did you just say cauliflower?
Logan Lucky is by no means a perfect movie. The last fifteen or so minutes of the movie (basically when Hillary Swank’s character is thrown into the fray) are at best forcibly convoluted and at worst entirely unnecessary. Thankfully, those last fifteen or so minutes don’t constitute an entire film. The Steven Soderbergh directed film is undeniably fun despite its strange ending.
The cast is loaded with stars and ‘that guys. From Daniel Craig playing a hillbilly explosives/safecracking expert ‘Joe Bang’ to the: “we don’t have riots at Monroe Prison,” Warden; played by the dude from the opening scene of Wedding Crashers.
The main character is Jimmy Logan, played by Channing Tatum. The relationship he has with his daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie), from a failed marriage to Katie Holmes’ character, fills the hole you’d expect to find a love interest. It’s a refreshing twist that grounds the movie with the perfect amount of relatability and heart. From the opening scene where she (Sadie) is handing Tatum tools as he works on his truck, to the culmination of their arc at Sadie’s beauty pageant, the relationship provides a backdrop that keeps the movie from being “Ocean’s 7-11” or the “Hillbilly Heist” as the robbery is dubbed by news anchors during the film’s third act.
My favorite part of the movie is Clyde, the one-armed Iraq war veteran played by Adam Driver. If there was an Oscar for actor and actress of the year, like a cumulative MVP scenario, (there totally should be by the way), I think Driver would be a dark horse to hear his name called for his performance in this and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He would need to edge out Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird), and Lucas Hedges (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Lady Bird). But I think Driver would be the most fun bet and have the right odds.
Clyde is obsessed with the Logan family curse, convinced they are destined for bad luck. His obsession is thoughtful and cynical. He doesn’t miss a beat when Jimmy starts a bar fight when Clyde waltzes outside and sets fire to the instigators truck. Clyde is reluctant to go along with his brother’s plan, but will hear him out because Jimmy “burnt the bacon the way I like.” His one-liners and general attitude had me rolling throughout the film.
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For the past year and a half, I had been living across from an AMC that has a lot of screens. I’ve been lucky enough to see some great movies on Thursday mornings when tickets only set me back $6.19. Most of the time I know what I’m getting into. When I went to see The Shape of Water and Three Billboards I knew, “these are supposed to be Oscar favorites.” I enjoyed them both, although I don’t totally understand the hype generated by The Shape of Water. (Seriously, who is driving that bandwagon?!) But the great thing about living across from a movie theater is I get to see a lot of movies.
Sometimes this doesn’t always work out in my favor (I’ll go to my grave with the knowledge that I wasted $6.19 on American Assassin). When it does work out its movies like Logan Lucky. Maybe I’ve seen one trailer and have no idea what the Rotten Tomatoes score is (which I know is sacrilege to some; sorry, Ferg), but it’s playing at the time I want to go, and I end up leaving the theater feeling like I’ve uncovered some hidden treasure. It feels like it belongs to me in some way it otherwise wouldn’t if Roger Ebert suggested I go see it. That feeling of ownership elevates an already awesome movie into a pantheon of personal favorites.
I’ll remember most of the best picture nominations from this year. So will everyone else. Some will fade out of the public consciousness – sorry, Darkest Hour. But Logan Lucky will remain a hidden treasure for not being lauded this awards season. It’s got the best odds of ending up on a “10 Solid Movies on Netflix You Haven’t Seen Before,” list. I wouldn’t say that’s the most important part of a movie, but it’s still nice to be surprised. Especially now, when we know who will win best actor two months before any little golden men are awarded.
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