Lucky Number Sleven

It’s abut time I see something a bit new. And wow, what a pick. My brother had told me about what he called “the new Seven; the new Usual Suspects.” And he was right. Only I’m not sure which was better. And that brings a smile to my face. Let me explain.

Writer Jason Smilovic brings us a tale of a man named Sleven (Josh Harnett.) He goes to visit his friend in New York. His unlucky nature brings him to two different crime bosses: The Boss (Morgan Freeman,) and The Rabbi (Sir Ben Kingsley.) These two men, rivals of the past twenty years, both claim that Nick (the man that Sleven is to be staying with) owes them money. Sleven is confused for Nick, and is brought in to both bosses, and told that hey must repay their debt. Pitting one against each other, and avoiding both the police, and a hired assassin (Bruce Willis,) Sleven works his way through the problems at hand, and even gets the girl (played by Leuci Liu.) As you can see, this film has quite the lineup of actors.

Each actor has something special about him or her. Each one has a past, and plays a strong role in this film. Morgan Freeman plays a commanding crime boss, with a powerful voice, and a vengeful spite. Kingsley plays the Rabbi, a crime boss spit apart from his original partner: The Boss. Even Bruce Willis plays a unique killer, even though he tends to be offered the same role again and again. Even Josh Harnett begins to illustrate his strength in his field. But be careful of Leuci Liu, as she doesn’t really play any specific role in this film, and tends to take away from the plot. I just couldn’t get into her character, and though she has some talent, I don’t think she used much of it in this film. But all together, these people paint a picture worth looking at.

And that’s one of the many things that make this film such a great one. The actors, with years of experience behind them, work together to create a powerful performance of deception, murder and revenge. As I’ve said many times, great writing, and great execution are two of the most important things that make a film. But they don’t go into this alone. Director Paul McGuigan does an outstanding job at bringing this film to the screen. His unique editing and cinematography bring this film above the rest of the usual crime tales that take place in New York. I was beginning to think that nothing original was ever going to come from New York again, what with every other crime film coming out starring Denzel Washington.

Let me emphasize this: this film is not your usual crime drama. It is not your typical mystery. I remember when Se7en first came out, and I remember the reaction. At first, people didn’t know what to make of it. “What’s the deal with that film,” some people said. It was underrated in its time, and I still think that to this day, it is an underrated film. I feel the same way about this film. In the past few weeks, I’ve seen nothing but advertisements for The Departed, and wonder what makes that film so much better.

And I think the answer to that is that people don’t necessarily like clever writing. They want a story about some guy thrown into a mod situation, give him a gun, and watch him shoot a bunch of people. And that’s not at all what this film is about, even though there is a lot of death associated with it.

I can’t stress this enough: this is a great film. It’s unique, and it’s powerful. It’s creative, and it’s well executed. It’s loaded with strong actors, and is very entertaining. Its turns, twists, and visual splendor make every aspect of this film entertaining. If you’ve not seen this one, I’d say get in your car/bike/truck/horse and get this film. If you loved Se7en, I’d say that this is one of those films you could buy without even seeing. It’s been years since I’ve had this smile on my face. Perhaps you’d like to wear it too? 8.25 of 10.