Two bookies are separately ambushed and murdered. In a bus terminal, a young man is approached by Goodkat, who tells the story of Max: two decades earlier, Max borrowed money from the mob to bet on a fixed horse race after eavesdropping conversations between mobsters, only for the horse to die mid-race. To set an example to make sure nobody else would try to bet on a fixed race, the mob killed Max, his wife and his son Henry. Goodkat then describes the "Kansas City Shuffle", a misleading double bluff, and kills the young man, taking the body in a truck.
In New York City, Slevin Kelevra is staying in his friend Nick Fisher's apartment and, upon being visited by neighbor Lindsey, discusses Nick's disappearance and why the apartment was unlocked. Lindsey suggests that Nick might be missing and, after she leaves, Slevin is kidnapped by two henchmen, who take him to "The Boss". Mistaking Slevin for Nick, The Boss orders him to repay a gambling debt or kill the son of his rival, "The Rabbi"; Believing The Rabbi is responsible for assassinating his son (seen in the intro), The Boss wants The Rabbi's homosexual son, Yitzchok "The Fairy", to be killed in revenge. Slevin returns to the apartment, but is kidnapped again, this time by two of The Rabbi's Jewish henchmen. The Rabbi also mistakes Slevin for Nick, and also demands he repay a gambling debt. Slevin tells The Boss he will kill Yitzchok. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that Goodkat is involved in both sides, that he is responsible for Nick's debts being called in and that he plans to kill Slevin after Yitzchok dies and make it look like they both committed suicide.
Slevin is approached by Detective Brikowski, who is investigating The Boss and The Rabbi. Brikowski has also been informed that Goodkat is back in town for the first time in twenty years and thinks there is a connection between The Boss, The Rabbi, Goodkat, and Slevin. After pretending to be gay, Slevin gets invited to Yitzchok's apartment, where he and Goodkat kill Yitzchok and his bodyguards. The two then kidnap The Boss and The Rabbi, whom they restrain in The Boss's penthouse. There, Slevin reveals he is Henry, Max's son. The mobsters who killed Max were The Boss and The Rabbi. Goodkat was the assassin hired to kill young Henry. After an attack of conscience took him in, Goodkat raised Henry as his own. 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 photographed Goodkat while investigating Nick's disappearance, Goodkat shoots her to protect his identity.
While hunting for Slevin, Brikowski gets a phone call from his boss and learns the meaning of the pseudonym Slevin Kelevra: "Lucky Number Slevin" was the horse Max had bet on, and "Kelevra" is Hebrew for bad dog, mirroring Goodkat's name. Brikowski murdered Slevin's mother to pay his own gambling debts twenty years ago. As he hears this story Brikowski resigns himself to his fate as Slevin appears in his backseat and shoots him.
Later at the bus terminal, Slevin is met by Lindsey. Goodkat previously informed Slevin that he had to murder Lindsey. However, Slevin explained his true identity to Lindsey and helped fake her death. When Goodkat appears, aware of the deception, Slevin explains he had to save her and did not think Goodkat would understand. Having saved Slevin as a boy, Goodkat states that he understands and agrees to leave Lindsey alone. Goodkat gives Slevin back his father's old watch and then disappears into the crowd.
For its US release on April 7, 2006, it was the first movie from The Weinstein Company to be distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as part of a three year distribution deal between Weinstein and MGM. The deal was terminated three months early in late 2008.
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. In addition to Blu-Ray and DVD this was one of the few films to be released on the failed HD-VMD format.[6]
Reception
Box office
Lucky Number Slevin opened in 1,984 theaters in North America and grossed $7,031,921, with an average of $3,544 per theater and ranking #5 at the box office. The film ultimately earned $22,495,466 domestically and $33,813,415 internationally for a total of $56,308,881, above its $27 million budget.[3]
Critical response
Lucky Number Slevin has received mixed reviews. As of October 2021[update], the film holds 52% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 153 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The critical consensus states "Trying too hard to be clever in a Pulp Fiction kind of way, this film succumbs to a convoluted plot, overly-stylized characters and dizzying set design."[7] The film also has a score of 53 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 36 critics indicating mixed or average reviews.[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[9]
