In a comedy you didn’t see coming, Channing Tatum’s Jimmy Logan plans to rob Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600. Knowing that he’ll need help to pull this off during the biggest race NASCAR has in Charlotte, he enlists his brother, bartender and Iraq War vet Clyde (Adam Driver), and sister, hairdresser Mellie (Riley Keough), to help him… right after they break out the platinum-dyed Daniel Craig master criminal Joe Bang out of prison.
While the Logans have had an unfortunate string of bad luck, the film breaks out some ‘are you serious?’ moments, including gummy bears, salt substitute, and the FBI, that prove that luck is what you make it. On one hand, Steven Soderbergh moves his pieces through Rebecca Blunt’s script in a way that plays straight as a story of the American dreams that have crashed and burned; on the other hand, it shows off some wildly comedic moments that I can only hope aren’t based on fact. Still, the funniest thing may be Craig nailing a North Carolina accent with serious panache.
In the end, we might be crazy, but we’re following these wannabe outlaws as heroes – hoping they will succeed. We want Jimmy to reverse his luck, to pull of the strangest con of all, and to rise above his situation in a way that would make him a winner. With Driver as his straight man, Tatum’s presentation is a star turn — if he can just keep Craig from stealing the show.
Check out the deleted scenes on Universal’s Blu-ray combo pack.
