Head to the movies this weekend to see Logan Lucky, and youll see more than Steven Soderbergh ending his moviemaking retirement phase and returning to the big screen. (Youve been greatly missed, sir.) Youll see more than just Channing Tatum and Adam Driver playing down-on-their-luck Southern brothers who hatch a plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Youll even see more than Daniel Craig sporting a bottle-blond crop-cut hairdo and Seth MacFarlane sporting something on his head that looks like a cross between a mullet, a Jheri curl and roadkill.
Youll also get to see a textbook case of how to make a heist film. Of all the movie genre staples, this particular flavor of crime-flick is among the most pleasurable and familiar. The conceit is right there in the name: A bunch of guys its almost always guys, though thats beginning to change team up to swipe something valuable from a seemingly impenetrable stronghold, often with the odds stacked against them. Audiences love this brand of cinema du bad behavior precisely because we get to live vicariously through it, going along for the ride while crooks try to pull off their daring plan and ride off into some metaphorical sunset.
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But as well-acquainted as viewers are with the heist film whether its The Killing, Rififi, Oceans Eleven or Inception its still important for filmmakers to adhere to some basic principles before hatching any and all cinematic swindles. So consider this a Heist Movie 101: our foolproof point-by-point breakdown of how to make the perfect crime film, using Logan Lucky as a case study. Follow these half-dozen rules and we guarantee youll get away scot-free or, at least, land a decent Rotten Tomatoes rating.
(And dont worry: This is a relatively spoiler-free discussion of the Soderbergh movie. Though you may want to proceed with caution regarding No. 5 if you have not seen some of the other movies were talking about.)
1. You Need a Team, Whose Members All Have to Have Different Personalities
As Logan Lucky demonstrates, a heist works best if you have a Noahs Ark of different types of bandits working together. The movies core team consists of the Logan siblings brothers Jimmy (Tatum) and Clyde (Driver), and lil sis Mellie (Riley Keough) but their familial bond dont keep them from having distinct personalities. (Jimmys the natural charmer; Clydes a bit more taciturn; Mellie is the smart-ass spitfire.)
The reason behind this narrative strategy is that, because these movies tend to consist of large ensembles, viewers need to be actively interested in each team member so that nobody just drifts into the background. In other words, having George Clooney in Soderberghs 2001 remake of Oceans Eleven is good. But pairing him with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon and Don Cheadle and even Carl Reiner is even better. They all have well-established (and distinct) onscreen personas. Half of your work is already done.
Quentin Tarantino understood this when he populated his debut caper film Reservoir Dogs with a bunch of white dudes in sunglasses and matching black-and-white outfits. He was smart enough to create that memorable opening sequence at breakfast, where the guys shoot the shit about everything from tipping to the secret meaning behind Madonnas Like a Virgin. In a few short minutes of funny, profane and pop-inflected dialogue, these seemingly anonymous tough-talking crooks are transformed into individuals nearly as colorful as their code names.
2. You Usually Need One Ethnic Guy for Diversity
When assembling your movie heist crew, you always make sure its a mix of characters with complementary skill sets: the brain, the brawn, the explosives expert, the getaway driver, the fleet-finger pickpocket, the psycho, etc. Theres also a lamentable genre tradition, however, that the crew normally has one token minority character whos treated in a somewhat patronizing manner. The original Oceans 11 had Sammy Davis, Jr.; the remake had Don Cheadle and Bernie Mac, though the character who more aptly fits this description is Shaobo Qins Yen. This member of the team is important, of course, but mostly his value is to provide a funny accent, multicultural perspective or some quirky talent that nobody else in the group possesses Yen can do acrobatic stunts, which mostly makes him the equivalent of a fun party trick around the rest of the star-powered ensemble. (Hes a great example of the token foreigner character that often shows up as a variation of this in heist films as well see also Inceptions Dileep Rao.)
Soderbergh actually tweaks the formula a tiny bit with Logan Lucky, casting James Bond superstar Daniel Craig as the hillbilly crook Joe Bang. With his thick Southern accent and expertise in explosives, Bang is a rascally redneck played by an English actor which is as close to an Adorable Foreigner as this Red State-centric heist film has.
3. The Actual Plan Needs to Be Laid Out in the Coolest Way Possible
Among the biggest challenges of the heist movie: making the plan understandable without bogging the audience down in exposition and minutiae. The gold standard of this technique remains Oceans Eleven, as George Clooneys Danny Ocean talks the team step-by-step through what theyll need to do to rob the targeted Vegas casinos and what all the obstacles will be.
Often, this kind of info-dump is done through a slick montage or divvied up in small chunks throughout the movie. Whats crucial is that we have a sense of the geography of the plan so that we care whats happening and why its happening. But lets be honest: Ultimately, we dont need to know all the ins-and-outs just so long as we feel confident that the team knows what theyre doing. In Logan Lucky, Soderbergh strikes a nice middle balance: The movie presents some of the plans details near the beginning of the second act, after the makeshift crew has been cobbled together. But it doesnt present all of them at once, forcing the viewer try to catch up with those
crafty Logans as things go along. And when a third act flashback suddenly replays what seems like a throwaway moment and recasts it as being crucial to a plan within the plan well, youre reminded that theres a lot of fun to be had messing with audiences perception of the actual heist.
4. Throw in One Final, Impossible Wrinkle to the Mission at the Last Minute
Of course, the heist has to be challenging otherwise, what fun would it be to see if these pros can pull it off? But just before the characters prepare to launch their scheme, a new problem has to present itself something that elevates the difficulty from Nearly Impossible to Super-Duper-Crazy-Impossible.
In Logan Lucky, that moment comes when the crew discovers that, thanks to some bad information, they cant rob the racetracks underground vault during the off-season as they originally planned. Instead, the Logans will have to stage their daring heist in the midst of a popular NASCAR race, the Coca-Cola 600. The plot twist has echoes in previous classic crime capers, like 1951s The Lavender Hill Mob, in which Alec Guinness bank clerk realizes that his scheme to steal some gold bullion has hit a roadblock. (To wit: The Eiffel Tower replicas hes using to secret the treasure end up getting accidentally sold to some young ladies.) The heroes of heist movies have to be smart and, as if often the case, they also have to think on their feet when their plan goes pear-shaped.
5. Include a Killer Twist After We Think the Heist Is Over
Because were on the side of the bandits, we assume that the filmmaker wont con us the same way that the crooks have tricked their easy marks. And every time we make that assumption, we get played usually near the films exciting conclusion.
For Now You See Me, were sideswiped by the reveal that Mark Ruffalos FBI agent was part of the Four Horsemen team all along. In Inside Man, it turns out Clive Owens expert thief got away with bags of diamonds after it seemed hed escaped Denzel Washingtons cop empty-handed. The Sting won Oscars while fooling its audience into thinking Paul Newman and Robert Redfords grifters have been shot dead except it was actually part of an elaborate ruse to get back at their nemesis. And, of course, theres The Usual Suspects, where the infamous Keyser Sze turns out to be Kevin Spacey. (The initials should have been a dead giveaway.)
In films ranging from Side Effects to The Informant!, Soderbergh has often played with misdirection, letting us assume things about his characters and then springing surprises down the home stretch. Thats no different with Logan Lucky, where the heist isnt nearly over when we think it is. We wont reveal anything, but we do advise viewers to pay close attention: There are hints throughout the film that what were watching actually isnt all thats going on.
6. Let the Team Get Away Then Make Everyone Wonder If They Did
Because so much of the heist movies plot is about breaking into the bank/vault/casino/stronghold, we often forget the other major suspense point: Will they be able to get out? That second concern is often even more hair-raising than the first and its the one filmmakers sometimes love using to toy with our emotions. After all, criminals might be able to crack a safe but can they stay safe?
Soderbergh let this nagging question have the final word in Oceans Eleven, concluding with a shot of Danny Ocean and his crew driving down the open road but with an ominous car following behind. For the original Italian Job, Michael Caines crew is involved in a literal cliffhanger at the movies end, as their prized gold sits teetering in a bus thats perched perilously close to a cliffs edge. In Christopher Nolans Inception, the getaway is more metaphorical: Leonardo DiCaprios mind thief Dom Cobb wants to believe hes fulfilled his final mission and is now reunited with his kids but that slowly spinning top on the table suggests he may still be trapped in a dream.
As for Logan Lucky, it wouldnt be fair to spoil what happens. But lets just say that it leaves the door open to multiple interpretations of what getting away with it might mean. And like the best heist movies, Logan Lucky keeps wowing us with its inventiveness and then it makes sure the ending doesnt leave viewers feeling robbed.
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