Lucky Number Slevin Information

Lucky Number Slevin, (known as The Wrong Man in Australia), is a 2006 crime thriller film written by Jason Smilovic, directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, and Lucy Liu. Set in New York City, the plot focuses on the paths of Slevin Kelevra (Hartnett), Lindsey (Liu), two feuding crime lords known as The Boss (Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley), and a mysterious hitman known as Mr. Goodkat (Willis). This marked the last movie to feature Willis with hair before he went bald.

Plot

During the film's opening credits, two bookies are separately ambushed and murdered by their unseen killers, and, elsewhere, a young man is killed by a sniper. In a bus terminal, a young man is approached by Goodkat (Bruce Willis), who tells the story of Max and the Kansas City Shuffle: two decades earlier, Max bet money he couldn't pay on a horse race fixed by the mob, only for the mob to kill the horse mid race, as well as everyone involved when they discovered information on the fix was leaked; to set an example, they killed Max, as well as his wife and young son Henry. Goodkat concludes that a "Kansas City Shuffle" is a misleading double bluff, and does so to trick and kill the young man, before loading his body into a truck.

In New York City, Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) is staying in his friend Nick Fisher's apartment and, upon being visited by Nick's neighbor Lindsey (Lucy Liu), discusses Nick's disappearance and why his apartment was unlocked. Lindsey suggests that Nick may be missing and, after she leaves, Slevin is kidnapped by two henchmen, who take him to "The Boss" (Morgan Freeman). Mistaking Slevin for Nick, The Boss orders him to repay a large gambling debt or kill the son of his rival, "The Rabbi" (Ben Kingsley); The Boss believes The Rabbi is responsible for assassinating his son (seen in the intro), and wants The Rabbi's homosexual son, Yitzchok "The Fairy", to be killed in revenge. Slevin then returns to the apartment, but is kidnapped again by two Jewish henchmen working for The Rabbi. The Rabbi also mistakes Slevin for Nick, and also demands he repay a large gambling debt. Slevin returns to The Boss and agrees to kill The Fairy; concurrently with Slevin visiting the mob bosses, it becomes apparent Goodkat is involved in both sides, is responsible for Nick's debts being called in, and that he plans to kill Slevin after The Fairy dies (though his motivations remain unknown).

Slevin and Lindsey go out to dinner, where Slevin arranges a date with The Fairy. Slevin is approached by Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci), who is investigating The Boss and The Rabbi; the detective hassles him again later, but Slevin only reveals his surname, "Kelevra". Slevin arrives at The Fairy's apartment and fatally shoots him, only for Goodkat to appear; rather than shoot Slevin, however, he finishes The Fairy, who pulls out a gun, revealing Slevin and Goodkat are affiliated. Slevin then brings the bus terminal victim's body, revealed to be Nick Fisher, into the apartment while Goodkat kills The Fairy's bodyguards. Together they blow up the apartment and the bodies, faking Slevin's death in the process. Goodkat and Slevin kidnap The Boss and The Rabbi, with both awakening restrained in The Boss's penthouse. Slevin appears and explains the overarching twist: Slevin is Henry, the son of the ill-fated Max, and the mobsters who killed Max were The Boss and The Rabbi. Goodkat is revealed as the assassin hired to kill young Henry, but after an attack of conscience took him in and raised him instead.

Twenty years later, Goodkat and Slevin killed The Boss' son and both mobsters' bookies, stealing the bookies' ledgers in the process; after finding Nick Fisher owed a great deal of money to both sides, they killed him and stole his identity. As gang warfare loomed, both mobsters went to Goodkat, who agreed to both kill and protect The Fairy on the condition they call in Nick's debts, granting Slevin and Goodkat unhindered access to the heavily guarded mobsters as Nick Fisher and an ally respectively. After revealing his plan, Slevin suffocates The Rabbi and The Boss by taping plastic bags over their heads, killing them the same way they killed his father. Since Lindsey earlier photographed Goodkat for Slevin, Goodkat shoots her to protect his identity. Finally, it is revealed that Detective Brikowski killed Slevin's mother when his own gambling debts were called in by the mobsters; Slevin kills Brikowski as the pseudonym "Slevin Kelevra" is explained: "Lucky Number Slevin" was the horse his father had bet on, and "Kelevra" is Hebrew for "bad dog," mirroring Goodkat's name.

Sometime later at the bus terminal, Slevin is met by Lindsey, and it is revealed that Slevin, aware of Goodkat's intentions, explained his true identity to her and helped fake her death. Goodkat appears, aware of the trickery; since Goodkat spared Slevin as a boy, he sympathizes and agrees to let her live. The film closes with a flashback to Goodkat sparing Henry, before "Kansas City Shuffle" by Bennie Moten (Performed by J. Ralph) starts playing on the radio.

Cast

• Josh Hartnett as Slevin Kelevra
• Bruce Willis as Mr. Goodkat/Smith
• Lucy Liu as Lindsey
• Morgan Freeman as The Boss
• Ben Kingsley as The Rabbi
• Michael Rubenfeld as Yitzchok The Fairy
• Peter Outerbridge as Detective Dumbrowski
• Stanley Tucci as Detective Brikowski
• Kevin Chamberlin as Marty
• Dorian Missick as Elvis
• Mykelti Williamson as Sloe
• Scott Gibson as Max
• Daniel Kash as Bodyguard #1
• Dmitry Chepovetsky as Bodyguard #2
• Sam Jaeger as Nick Fisher
• Danny Aiello as Roth
• Oliver Davis as Henry
• Corey Stoll as Saul
• Howard Jerome as Abe
• J. D. Jackson as Mugger
• Sebastien Roberts as Man
• Robert Forster as Murphy
• Shira Leigh as Hottie
• Janet Lane as Gloria
• Nicholas Rice as Doc
• Bernard Kay as Morty
• Sam Stone as Old Waiter
• Darren Marsman as Slim Hopkins
• Gerry Mendicino as Benny Begin
• Diego Klattenhoff as Ginger
• Rick Bramucci as Soldier
• Victoria Fodor as Helen
• Calvin Corey as Person at Horsetrack

Home media

The film was released on DVD on September 12, 2006. and on Blu-ray November 8, 2008. To date the film has made $26,877,256 in home video sales, bringing its worldwide total to $83,186,137. This does not include rentals or Blu-ray sales.

Reception

The film received mixed reception, with a rotten score of 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards and nominations

Directors Guild of Canada

• Nominated: Outstanding Sound Editing - Feature Film

Milan International Film Festival

• Won: Best Film (Paul McGuigan)
• Won: Best Actor (Josh Hartnett)

Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA

• Nominated: Best Sound Editing for Music in a Feature Film
• Nominated: Best Sound Editing for Sound Effects and Foley in a Foreign Film