Logan Lucky (2017) * * *

Directed by:  Steven Soderbergh

Starring:  Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Seth MacFarlane, Brian Gleeson, Jack Quaid

Steven Soderbergh is at home in caper comedies.    Logan Lucky has the feel, if not the sophistication, of the Ocean's Eleven series.    There isn't much in the way of computers used to knock off Charlotte Motor Speedway, just a plan which we weren't entirely confident the seemingly bumbling crooks could pull off.    Logan Lucky is breezy, light, and mostly gets the job done while filled with slyly comic performances from actors we normally don't associate with light comedy.

Jimmy Logan (Tatum) works underneath Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of a construction crew fixing sinkholes in the infield.    Due to his limp, he is let go because he is a potential insurance liability.     Jimmy has money issues and his ex-wife is now about to move his daughter far away, so he conspires with his bartender brother Clyde (Driver) to knock over the speedway by breaking into its vault (sound familiar?)   Jimmy has a limp, while Clyde wears a bargain-basement prosthetic left arm.    The brothers apparently attempted crime before when they were teenagers and it didn't end well.    Jimmy, a former star college quarterback, has fallen on hard times since the leg injury ended his career, so he sees the robbery as a way to get rich while battling what Clyde calls the family curse.

Assisting the Logans are their hairdresser sister Mellie (Keough), jailed explosives expert Joe Bang (Craig) who has five months to go on his sentence, and Joe's two dopey brothers Sam and Fish (Gleeson and Quaid).    Joe points out the obvious roadblock to his involvement, but the Logans plan to break him out of jail, commit the robbery, and return him before anyone notices he is missing.    Unlike the Ocean's series, the plan isn't explained to us ahead of time (except for the basics), and instead we delightfully witness it unfold.     There are complications, of course, one of which is a prick race car owner who shows up precisely when he shouldn't, and of course the ever-present stupidity of some or all of the robbers which threatens to rear its ugly head. 

I naturally won't spoil the rest of the film for you because part of the delight of a movie like Logan Lucky is watching its plot developments and try to figure how on Earth everything will work out ok.   These are criminals, mind you, but they are played by likable actors who are having fun taking their turn in the Soderbergh universe, so we won't begrudge them if they succeed in pulling off the heist.   I must admit there are plot swerves which occur for plot swerves' sake.    They don't make much sense, including the introduction of an FBI agent (Swank) who investigates the robbery and MacFarlane's entire role in the film, which mostly showcases his ability to speak with an English accent.    These developments prevent Logan Lucky from reaching the heights Soderbergh achieved with the Ocean's series, but for the most part I still enjoyed it.