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I love North Carolina, and more importantly, I love North Carolina being represented in popular culture. Too many shows are set in New York City or Los Angeles, and since so many filmmakers have covered these two locales, there really isn’t much left to say about them. Why make another movie about LA after Chinatown or Heat? Or make another police procedural about the NYPD? North Carolina is a state rich with history and a variety of different cultures and perspectives that are wholly unique to the region. I’m not saying it’s easy to make a show or movie about North Carolina; Outer Banks is a gross misrepresentation of the Carolina coast and its inhabitants, something I hope to cover later. Even though it was not a high quality work of art, Outer Banks inspired me to look deeper at my home to discover works that honor NC. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to go through a list of great films set in the Tar Heel State that exhibit a level of knowledge and comprehension of the area, as well as ones that might miss the mark or almost get to the level I’m searching for. I thought a great way to begin this conversation would be to talk about one of my favorite heist films: Logan Lucky. Also known as Ocean’s 7/11, Logan Lucky follows the Logan family as they attempt to rob a NASCAR event, while fighting a family curse. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film gives a stark alternative to the flashy nature and fast-talking suave of Ocean’s 11, instead opting for a tone that is much more fitting for North Carolina. The Logan brothers, played by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver, both have thick Southern accents, dress in hunting camo and trucker hats, and speak about as slow as gravy. Because of this, many people were confused and challenged the story written by Jules Asner, along with the direction, since it did not make sense to them that rednecks could pull off a heist involving intricate timing, scheming, and masterminding. If you are from a Southern state like NC, then this isn’t a problem. Southerners are just as intelligent as anyone else, and heavy accents and bad haircuts don’t change any of that. This is part of why the film is so great for North Carolinians, it gives us non-stereotypical Southern characters that are competent. In addition to all of that, the film highlights NASCAR racing, a sport originating in NC and a great way to integrate Carolina culture into the plot. The pacing of the film is slow and methodical instead of the typical fast-paced flashiness in Soderbergh’s Ocean’s movies, and this structure and presentation of the plot fits the calm and comedic nature of the environment, and is a perfect match for Carolina. Before I continue, I must go on a tangent about a very important character in Logan Lucky. The casting of Daniel Craig as Joe Bang is some of the wildest fence swinging I’ve ever seen. He has quite possibly one of the worst Southern accents, but it just doesn’t matter. He steals every scene he’s in. He cranks it up to 100 and overacts everybody else off the stage, and he does so with a level of undeniable charm. Craig might not sound like a southerner, but he embodies the qualities of one in this film, and to me, that’s far more important than any vocal mistakes. Every time I watch Logan Lucky, I break into a rare laughter when Bang exclaims, “We are dealing with science here!” as he holds a bag full of gummy bears and fake salt. Besides Daniel Craig, the rest of the performances are surprisingly subtle, save for Seth MacFarlane’s energy drink mogul with an equally wacky British accent and hairdo. But that notwithstanding, Channing Tatum and Adam Drive are both very believable as brothers, and they offer the viewers different energy to connect with; Clyde Logan is “the one arm bartender”, and Driver carries this role with a heap of sincerity and tepidness, an ex-marine amputee who is aptly wary of his brother’s grand scheme. And that brother, Jimmy Logan, someone easy to root for, a father trying to look out for his daughter while struggling with a knee injury that ultimately gets him laid off from his job working construction at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Lastly from the Logan brood, there is Mellie, played by Riley Keough, who works to dispel some of the masculinity and bring an always appreciated feminine touch to a heist movie. She is the Logan’s bubblegum-chewing wheelwoman when she is not working as a hairdresser. With all of the major players introduced, excluding some more minor ones that I will surely bring up later, it’s time to cover the basic plot in relation to our great state. After Jimmy Logan is fired from his construction job because of a failure to report a knee injury that prevented him from having a college football career, he enlists the help of his hapless brother, who just got fired from his bartending gig that he was surprisingly proficient at, all things considered. They begin planning to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s pneumatic tube system, and require a demolitions expert (guess who that is), and must work around Joe Bang’s prison sentence, Clyde’s prosthetic limb, and Hilary Swank in a pantsuit. I do not want to delve into the plot much more, but would like to add that Katie Holmes, Sebastian Stan, and Macon Blair round out the cast, giving the audience a better sense of the world that Soderbergh has invited them into. Now, I have given this film a lot of praise, and while this exercise is meant to mostly be positive, I have to point out my issues with the story and production, in particular, the inaccuracies that fall upon North Carolina. I mentioned him before, but now is the time to add that Seth MacFarlane does not add much to the movie, and he does not add much in the most exasperated way. His performance is both quite similar to Craig’s with a silly accent and great overreacting, but he fails to be fun, and that is what makes overreacting work. He also just stands out; it becomes difficult to not think about MacFarlane the celebrity, instead of MacFarlane the actor. Besides him, the cast fits together like a beautiful mosaic, but he comes across as a big, missing tile. A much smaller issue relating to NC is that the Charlotte Motor Speedway is listed as being in Charlotte. While this may seem obvious, the CMS actually is located in Concord. The last criticism I really have about this film is that the last half hour drags, spending too much time away from the main characters and away from the exciting heist and outcome. With that, I implore everyone to see Logan Lucky while it is available on Amazon Prime, and next time, I will be covering an Oscar-Nominated sports film. ● The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
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9/8/2020
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