I think this movie is the victim of many very clever movies before it. It's difficult to mislead an audience and have a surprise ending that actually surprises any more. Unlike many recent great 'surprise ending' movies, like Usual Suspects, Sixth Sense, Memento and Seven, I was always one step ahead of guessing what was going to happen next in Lucky Number Slevin. Had Slevin come out before any of those others I mentioned it might be in the same category. Unfortunately it is not.
The style of Slevin is very nice and there are some great clever moments. I found myself entertained by it. But I felt myself entertained in the same way as watching a movie I've seen several times already, detecting early on the clues that would eventually reveal the big secret at the end. And the reveals were slow enough that even if you're not looking for them you can see them coming.
Because of this it feels more like a rental than a gotta-go-out-and-see-it one. Probably explains why it didn't do so hot at the box office.
The style of Slevin is very nice and there are some great clever moments. I found myself entertained by it. But I felt myself entertained in the same way as watching a movie I've seen several times already, detecting early on the clues that would eventually reveal the big secret at the end. And the reveals were slow enough that even if you're not looking for them you can see them coming.
Because of this it feels more like a rental than a gotta-go-out-and-see-it one. Probably explains why it didn't do so hot at the box office.