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Lucky Number Slevin
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 Lucky Number Slevin Production NotesTagline: Luck has nothing to do with it.
Set in New York City, a case of mistaken identity lands Slevin (Josh Hartnett) into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most notorious rival crime bosses: The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat (Bruce Willis) and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to escape the maze alive.
"Lucky Number Slevin" is set in the world of New York gangsters and follows a case of mistaken identity, which lands Hartnett's character (Slevin) in the middle of a murder being plotted by one of the city's most notorious crime bosses.
About the Production
Lucky Number Slevin began in screenwriter Jason Smilovic’s imagination in 1997 as a story “about a guy who was just incredibly unlucky,” as Smilovic puts it, and evolved over the years into a clever, dark, genre-bending thriller with surprising plot twists and irreverent characters.
Tyler Mitchell, one of the producers for Film Engine, charts the script’s history: “Robert Kravitz [one of Lucky Number Slevin’s producers] found the script and submitted it to our company.
“In the world of Jason Smilovic, everyone talks too much,” McGuigan jokes. “We never ad-libbed. None of the actors ad-libbed anything. The words were so particular to this film that if the voice were to change, it would change the film dramatically because of its heightened language.”
“In the world of Jason Smilovic, everyone talks too much,” McGuigan jokes. “We never ad-libbed. None of the actors ad-libbed anything. The words were so particular to this film that if the voice were to change, it would change the film dramatically because of its heightened language.”
McGuigan was eager to re-team with Josh Hartnett, with whom he’d formed a close working relationship during the filming of the romantic drama Wicker Park. Hartnett was drawn to the title character because the role was “an unassuming, goofy guy that everyone can all write off.” Mitchell describes Hartnett’s qualities for the role: “When we were casting the part, we really wanted an actor who’s a very charismatic, easy-going guy who you believe could fall down this rabbit hole into this gangster wonderland, and find himself pinging back and forth between these criminal enterprises, and yet transform at the end. I knew Josh had that darker side to him from a movie he did for our company called O.”
“It’s great that your lead character has a broken nose in the beginning of the film. You like him. He’s rather sweet with it,” McGuigan notes of the character. Many of Slevin’s endearing qualities come courtesy of the film’s leading man: “Before Josh was involved, Slevin was more of a smart-ass. He was much less likeable, actually. We rewroteit to fit Josh’s character.”
Similarly, when Lucy Liu signed on to play the role of Lindsey, the filmmakers were quick to imbue the role with aspects of the actress’ own personality. Chris Roberts of Ascendant says, “We actually rewrote the role for her, because she does have so muchenergy. She made Lindsay a faster talking, more precocious character.”
“I think that Lucy’s personable and cute and smart,” McGuigan says of Liu. “The character wasn’t fully worked out. We needed to find an actress we could base the character on, in part. Jason liked the idea of having a smart neighbor who was workingeverything out and helping the audience understand what was going on. She goes overthe plot over and over again. It’s a nice device. Because she’s smart, audiences believeher. I think it works well.”
“When she signed on, it just became so clear what the part needed,” Smilovic says. “Lucy has an amazing quirkiness to her, and I thought the character had to embody that. She really completes the Rosalind Russell-Cary Grant kind of dynamic between her and Slevin.”
Hartnett agrees that his sole female co-star brought something special to the mix. “Lucy’s a very sparkly girl. She’s a fireball, and she is a lot like Lindsey. I think she’s perfect for it.”
Liu had great fun portraying the vibrant, overly-involved neighbor. “Lindsey’s a coroner,” Liu comments, “so she has an analytical mind and she puts together stories of what she thinks happened. I think she’s very curious, and she doesn’t run from those things: They make her more interested. She’s not a dull girl. She likes to get into people’s past and their personal lives a little bit.”
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Lucy Liu and Josh Hartnett in Lucky Number Slevin.
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