New Jersey Stage 2017: Issue 8 | Page 88

With Logan Lucky, Soderbergh and screenwriter Rebecca Blunt appear to be paying homage to the redneck exploitation movies of the ‘70s - which depending on budget, usually starred either Burt Reynolds or Bo Hopkins - but the cartoonish portrayal of rural American life comes off as patronising at best, offensive at worst. The male characters are little more than a series of ma- cho tics, while the women, all big hair and tight skirts, serve as background decoration, prov- NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol. 4 No. 8 ing female screenwriters are just as capable of writing awful roles for their gender as their more numerous male counterparts. Other characters, or rather cari- catures, drift around the periph- ery of the narrative, none more irritating than Seth MacFarlane as a cockney energy drinks mag- nate whose role in the drama I’m still trying to make sense of. As a heist movie, Logan Lucky fails to create enough conflict, with the Logans’ plans going off with nary a hitch. What few INDEX NEXT ARTICLE 88