Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Logan Lucky'

Written by Scott Edwards

It seems like when the chips are down, many of us just want to fold and go home. Not wanting to take that extra risk in life can be alright at times, but there are those times when you need to show your hand. With nothing in the future being written in stone, you can strive to make yourself a better person and inspire others to follow suit. You may not want to fail in whatever endeavor you are taking, but if you don’t ever take a chance, you will never reap the rewards.
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Getting called into his boss’ office, Jimmy Logan is shocked that he is being let go for having a limp that he has been fighting off for years. Not being able to convince his boss that it does not hinder his work, he is forced to look for some other way to make some money. Getting some life lessons from his younger brother, Jimmy finds himself getting into a fight with a celebrity to get his brother to listen to him once again. Yelling out ‘Cauliflower’ as he leaves the bar, Jimmy has a plan that will make his family some good money for a couple hours of work.

With a plan in place to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway during a car show, Jimmy explains how the payday will benefit them both, but Clyde is having some reservations about the idea. But knowing all of the inner workings of the track, Jimmy knows that the plan is fail proof and only needs to bring in one outsider to make it work. Going to the prison to recruit the infamous Joe Bang, Jimmy is once again hit with some hesitation when it comes to getting back into the life of crime. Convincing Joe that he no longer has his secret stash, the explosives expert is forced to accept the gig, but with one condition, his brothers will have to be part of the caper as well.

With his small crew put together, Jimmy is ready to start putting things in motion. But when he returns to the track to pick up some blueprints and his belongings, he finds out that the job is going to have to be done a week ahead of schedule. Needing to change the date of the robbery, the crew is shocked that they will be present for the Coca-Cola 600, the busiest day of the year for the speedway. Not changing any aspect of the plan with the exception of the date is putting the crew off, but Jimmy is able to convince them of even a bigger payday than before and there will be no stopping him in proving that he is the true mastermind that nobody wants to give him credit for.

I really did not expect an under-financed Ocean’s type of caper, but that is exactly what you get when watching Logan Lucky. With a little more focus on family, Logan does not want to lose any time with his young daughter who only wants him around. With the family first attitude, the Logan and Bang families’ combine for some great shenanigans and a lesson in bomb building that involves gummy bears. The actors and actresses in this movie really played well off of each other, so even though I did not laugh as much as I did during the first Ocean’s 11 movie, I still enjoyed the heck out of this one. With a limping lead, a one-armed brother, a bar brawl, some West Virginian accents, gummy bears, lots of cash and the loss of a prosthetic arm, this movie is just a good one that will not leave you feeling cheated at all. While I am not a massive NASCAR fan, it really got me interested in what happens during the races that we never see on television, like an elaborate heist. 

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