History Film / LuckyNumberSlevin

* YourCheatingHeart: Slevin caught his girlfriend cheating on him. [[spoiler: It didn't actually happen]].

!! ''Lucky Number Slevin'' provides examples of the following tropes:

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* BookEnds: The film ends in the same airport terminal it started in, [[RuleOfSymbolism though it is empty the first time and full the second]].

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* ObfuscatingStupidity: - Jeez, this movie plays with Obfuscation like a bandit. Slevin runs a fine line at this all throughout the movie. His stupidity isn't of the literal sort but the physical. Slevin's continuously firing quips at very violent people - two different sets of mooks and mob bosses, as well as the police and is constantly getting punched for it, as soon as physical violence comes into play, Slevin backs down (for a little while at least). It's a brilliant subversion of the idea, [[spoiler: Slevin's actually a fairly accomplished hitman who's killed at least three people just to put himself in play.]] He straddles a line of aggravating people into hitting him, mixed with just not caring about the danger he's in. [[spoiler: Little do his rivals know, he is planning on killing all of them.]] Sometimes, it's unclear if he's doing it on purpose so they underestimate him, because of his [[spoiler: supposed]] ataraxia or if he just honestly pissing off all the people around him ''because he can.''

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* MayIBorrowACupOfSugar?: Lindsay is introduced to the main character in this fashion. For a little twist, she borrows not only the sugar, but also [[ExactWords the cup to carry it in]].

* {{Mossad}}: Yitzhak, the Rabbi's son, has a pair of ex-Mossad bodyguards.

* {{Fanservice}}: Josh Hartnett shirtless for a good portion.

* MayIBorrowaCupofSugar?: Lindsay is introduced to the main character in this fashion. For a little twist, she borrows not only the sugar, but also [[ExactWords the cup to carry it in]].

Lindsay is introduced to the main character in this fashion. For a little twist, she borrows not only the sugar, but also [[ExactWords the cup to carry it in]].

* DivideAndConquer

'''Lindsey''': ''You mean this isn't the first time [[HighConcept a crime lord asked you to kill the gay son of a rival gangster to pay off a debt that belongs to your friend whose place you're staying in as a result of losing your job, your apartment, and finding your girlfriend in bed with another guy?]]''\\
'''Slevin''': No, this is the first time ''[[ARareSentence that]]'' happened.

* BuffySpeak: Very common, such as when Slevin recognizes Slim Hopkins in the paper:
-->'''Lindsey''': What is it?\\
'''Slevin''': I know this guy.\\
'''Lindsey''': Who?\\
'''Slevin''': ''This'' guy.\\
'''Lindsey''': You know that guy?\\
'''Slevin''': I met him. He was dead.\\
'''Lindsey''': ''You met a dead guy?''\\
'''Slevin''': Yeah, in a walk-in freezer.

'''Slevin''': No, this is the first time ''that'' happened.

->'''The Rabbi:''' Your predicament reminds me of a story. [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]]. ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''. The movie where everybody thinks Creator/CaryGrant is a man named George Kaplan, but the thing is there is no George Kaplan. It's just a made-up name, but names, even made-up ones...they can bring about quite a bit of trouble. Now, the woman in the picture with Grant, her name was, um...\\
'''Slevin:''' Eva Marie Saint.\\
'''The Rabbi:''' Oh, you know this movie.\\
'''Slevin:''' I know this movie.

A 2006 thriller with some elements of a stylized FilmNoir, ''Lucky Number Slevin'' (released, bizarrely, as ''The Wrong Man'' in Australia) plays with viewpoint and non-linear storytelling in a similar way to ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' or a Creator/QuentinTarantino flick. The film features an all-star cast comprised of Creator/JoshHartnett, Creator/LucyLiu, Creator/BenKingsley, Creator/MorganFreeman, and Creator/BruceWillis.

The movie opens with a recount of an old horse race where one of the trainers tries to fix the race by drugging his horse. He tells his brother, who tells a friend, who tells another friend…and the cycle continues until word of the "drugstore handicap" eventually makes it back to Max, a family man looking to make a buck and put his kid through school. Max puts down a lot of money he doesn't have on the horse, thinking of the bet as a sure thing -- but during the fateful race, the horse breaks its leg on the home stretch. The bookie who took the bet goes all out to collect the debt from Max: he has his goons beat -- and kill -- Max, sends more goons to kill Max's wife, and calls in a professional to kill Max's young son when none of his other goons will do the deed.

Fast forward several years: an everyman named Slevin has just moved to New York City to stay at his buddy Nick's house after a week of misfortune. After meeting his quirky neighbor Lindsey, Slevin finds himself mistaken for Nick by thugs connected to a gangster known only as The Boss. Nick owes quite a bit of money to this man, and no one believes Slevin when he says The Boss shouldn't put him on the hook for the loan. Nick's debts complicate matters further when Slevin learns Nick also owes money to The Rabbi, a rival to The Boss who, in a very Shakespearan turn of events, lives ''right across the street'' from The Boss (in the exact same type of building, no less).

Slevin finds himself trapped in the middle of the gangsters' cold war when The Boss asks him to assassinate The Rabbi's son to cover Nick's debt -- but everyone has secrets in this KansasCityShuffle...

----

A 2006 thriller with some elements of a stylized FilmNoir, ''Lucky Number Slevin'' (released, bizarrely, as ''The Wrong Man'' in Australia) plays with viewpoint and non-linear storytelling in a similar way to ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' or a Creator/QuentinTarantino flick. The film features an all-star cast comprised of JoshHartnett, Creator/LucyLiu, BenKingsley, Creator/MorganFreeman, and Creator/BruceWillis.

A 2006 thriller with some elements of a stylized FilmNoir, '''''Lucky Number Slevin''''' (released, bizarrely, as ''The Wrong Man'' in Australia) plays with viewpoint and non-linear storytelling in a similar way to ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' or a Creator/QuentinTarantino flick. The film features an all-star cast comprised of JoshHartnett, Creator/LucyLiu, BenKingsley, Creator/MorganFreeman, and Creator/BruceWillis.

* [[spoiler: AWolfInSheepsClothing:]] Slevin is constantly getting punched in the nose and the solar plexus, by...pretty much everyone he meets except Lindsey. [[spoiler: The truth is he set up the "misidentification" of Nick Fisher to get close to the Rabbi and the Boss so he can get his revenge.]]

* HitmanWithAHeart: [[spoiler: Goodkat]].

* ObfuscatingDisability: Slevin's ataraxia. It's unclear if Slevin actually has ataraxia [[spoiler: or if he's just not worried because everything is actually going according to plan.]] Or both.

* ActorAllusion: [[spoiler:Bruce Willis gives Slevin the watch that once belonged to his (Slevin) father. Much like Bruce Willis' character received his father's watch in Pulp Fiction]].

* ShoutOut: An "echo" variation: after ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' gets mentioned, Slevin does a "just one more thing" to The Rabbi. [[spoiler:JamesBond gets mentioned just before Slevin gets the girl, who ends up (apparently) getting killed]]. ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' gets a mention for the plot point of someone getting mistaken for a person [[spoiler:who doesn't exist -- shortly before the film reveals the truth about the protagonist's "real" identity]].

->'''The Rabbi:''' Your predicament reminds me of a story. [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]]. ''NorthByNorthwest''. The movie where everybody thinks CaryGrant is a man named George Kaplan, but the thing is there is no George Kaplan. It's just a made-up name, but names, even made-up ones...they can bring about quite a bit of trouble. Now, the woman in the picture with Grant, her name was, um...\\

* ShoutOut: An "echo" variation: after ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' gets mentioned, Slevin does a "just one more thing" to The Rabbi. [[spoiler:JamesBond gets mentioned just before Slevin gets the girl, who ends up (apparently) getting killed]]. ''NorthByNorthwest'' gets a mention for the plot point of someone getting mistaken for a person [[spoiler:who doesn't exist -- shortly before the film reveals the truth about the protagonist's "real" identity]].

-->'''Slevin:'''Why do they call him "The Fairy"?
-->'''The Boss:''' Because he's a fairy.
-->'''Slevin:''' What he has wings? He can fly? Sprinkle magic dust all over the place?
-->'''The Boss:''' He's homosexual.
-->'''Slevin:''' Right.

* AskAStupidQuestion[=/=]CaptainObvious:

* ObfuscatingStupidity: - Jeez, this movie plays with Obfuscation like a bandit. Slevin runs a fine line at this all throughout the movie. His stupidity isn't of the literal sort but the physical. Slevin's continuously firing quips at very violent people - two different sets of mooks and mob bosses, as well as the police and is constantly getting punched for it. It's a brilliant subversion of the idea, [[spoiler: Slevin's actually a fairly accomplished hitman who's killed at least three people just to put himself in play.]] He straddles a line of aggravating people into hitting him, mixed with just not caring about the danger he's in. [[spoiler: Little do his rivals know, he is planning on killing all of them.]] Sometimes, it's unclear if he's doing it on purpose so they underestimate him, because of his [[spoiler: supposed]] ataraxia or if he just honestly pissing off all the people around him ''because he can.''

* ActorAllusion: [[spoiler:Bruce Willis gives Slevin the watch that once belonged to his (Slevin) father. Much like Bruce Willis' character received his father's watch in Pulp Fiction]]

* AskAStupidQuestion / CaptainObvious:

* BashBrothers: [[spoiler:Slevin and Goodkat.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality: There are no good guys. Even Slevin [[spoiler: kills the sons of the gangsters who killed his parents, despite the fact that neither of them had ever harmed him personally.]]
* BilingualBonus: If you speak Hebrew, you know that [[spoiler:Slevin's last name (Kelevra) means "Bad Dog". It will not take long from there to guess that he has a connection to Goodkat. [[note]]Although with the different stress (''kélev rá'' vs. ''kelévra'', plus the fact that it's presented as one word, most Hebrew speakers wouldn't notice that it can be understood as Hebrew.[[/note]] ]]

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: The Fairy.]]

* ChekhovsGun: So, so many. [[spoiler: First, you have the literal gun the Rabbi uses. It's seen in the beginning when one of the faceless men is torturing Max. Then the Rabbi threatens Slevin with it. There is also the Boss's ring, Slevin's watch, and the Fairy's necklace, just to name a few.]]

* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler: Goodkat and Slevin.]]

* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Detective Brikowski.]]

* DungeonBypass: Touched upon by [[spoiler:The Fairy's bodyguards; they are in the next room, but they come through the (false) wall. However, Goodkat realizes that this is where they would come in, noticing that the wall is thin by the noise they make next door, and is able to ambush them.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Slevin carries out his assassination mission with more effectiveness than TheEveryman should, with easily spotting The Fairy's bodyguards and eluding them to get a date with him. That and his ability to communicate with extremely dangerous crime-bosses and withstand intimidation from the police is indicative of some experience with organized crime.]]
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler: Several points in the plan are up to chance, most particularly The Boss picking a hitman who hasn't worked the city in question for years to do the deed. The plan where Slevin is counting on Goodkat not checking if Lindsey is dead. That Slevin would be able to pay his debt to the Rabbi in person, at night. Certainly, measures were taken to skew the probabilities in their favor, but none of it was guaranteed from the outset.]]

* GunsAkimbo: Goodkat--just look at the image for this page.

* ImprovisedWeapon: The killer in the opening sequence kills a bookie by throwing a baseball. [[EyeScream Into his eye.]].

* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: [[spoiler: The Boss, The Rabbi, and Detective Brikowski]]
* LuckyCharmsTitle: marketed occasionally as ''Lucky # Slevin'' (see the picture) or ''Lucky Number Sㄥevin''

* ManipulativeBastard: almost everyone

** [[spoiler: Slevin Kelevra. "Slevin" is the name of the horse that died in the opening race. Kelevra is Hebrew for "Bad Dog," [[FridgeBrilliance a reference to his relationship with the hitman Goodkat]] ]]

* MeaningfulEcho: [[spoiler:Brikowski mentions that Slevin should play ball, and he Literal Minded-ly remarks "You think I'm tall enough?"; later, it's revealed that Slevin ''literally plays ball when he murders a bookie with a thrown baseball.'']]

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Boss and The Rabbi, although we do hear the Rabbi's name from a couple of mooks early on. [[spoiler:The ending has them referring to each other by their real names: Anthony and Shlomo.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Slevin does this in BestServedCold form. The world class assassin sent to kill Slevin ended up raising him instead, and as an adult, Slevin came back to kill the men who had his family killed.]]

* ShoutOut: An "echo" variation: after ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' gets mentioned, Slevin does a "just one more thing" to The Rabbi. [[spoiler:JamesBond gets mentioned just before Slevin gets the girl, who ends up (apparently) getting killed.]] ''NorthByNorthwest'' gets a mention for the plot point of someone getting mistaken for a person [[spoiler:who doesn't exist -- shortly before the film reveals the truth about the protagonist's "real" identity.]]

* StagedShooting: [[spoiler: Lucy Liu's character.]]

* TrappedByGamblingDebts: Although they're actually Nick's debts. Since [[spoiler:the trapping was planned, this can be considered an InvokedTrope.]]
* TranquilFury: [[spoiler: "You killed everything I love. ''Fuck you both''." Slevin doesn't raise his voice once during his entire MotiveRant.]]

* WeDoNotKnowEachOther: [[spoiler: Goodkat and Slevin.]]

* WouldntHurtAChild: The Boss calls in a specialist to kill a child when none of his goons would do the job. [[spoiler:The specialist can't bring himself to do it either.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Slevin caught his girlfriend cheating on him. [[spoiler: It didn't actually happen.]]

-->'''Slevin:''' You mean he has wings, and flies around spreading pixie dust--\\

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Boss and The Rabbi. [[spoiler:The ending has them referring to each other by their real names: Anthony and Shlomo.]]
** Actually, the Rabbi is named long before the ending; the two members of his gang sent to collect Slevin refer to him by his name several times.
--->'''Hasidic Gangster''': [[spoiler:Shlomo]] wants to see you.
--->'''Slevin''': I don't know anyone named [[spoiler:Shlomo.]] -is promptly punched in the gut-
--->'''Hasidic Gangster''': [[spoiler:Shlomo]] knows you.