History Film / LuckyNumberSlevin

* PrecisionFStrike: [[spoiler:"The two of you killed everything I ever loved. Fuck you both."]]

* DoomedProtagonist: For all of Max's rich stupidity documented further on down, he doesn't come across as a particularly bad guy, and is actually more likable than most of the other characters in the film. He's not a scheming mobster or a violent thug, he's just a guy tired of raising a family in a hole in the wall, and wants to give his wife and son a better life.

* YourCheatingHeart: Slevin caught his girlfriend cheating on him. [[spoiler: It didn't actually happen]]. His rebuttal of her excuse is ''excellent'': she's being doggy-styled by some other guy when Slevin walks in, and tries to say, "It was an accident."
-->'''Slevin:''' Accident, eh? What, like, he tripped and you fell?

[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucky-number-slevin_1011.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:275: [-Creator/BruceWillis [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou is about to shoot both of the guys standing next to you]]! -] ]]

* AskAStupidQuestion[=/=]CaptainObvious:

* ObfuscatingStupidity: 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). [[spoiler:It's a brilliant subversion of the idea because Slevin is actually a fairly accomplished hitman who's killed at least three people just to put himself in the position he's in.]] 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 that he plans to kill 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''.

* DangerTakesABackseat: [[spoiler: Detective Brikowski]] is killed in this matter.

* DramaticIrony: When you watch the movie a second time, pay attention to everything The Boss and The Rabbi say.

* {{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]].

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Lindsay. Subverted in that [[spoiler: Slevin turns out not to be TheEveryMan who needs a "kick" in his boring life]].
** The emphasis on the "manic", as Lindsay is very high energy and excited by the series of events (and seeing Slevin in only a towel). She's fairly grounded otherwise, questioning why Slevin doesn't simply go to the police to solve the problem or coming up with simpler ways of getting out of trouble. Her enthusiasm is directed at helping Slevin, not simply riding the adventure high, and the trope slightly inverted as [[spoiler: Slevin never counted on her presence in his plans. While it doesn't hinder his plans, it does complicate his strategic exit.]]

* ShoutOut: An "echo" variation: after ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' gets mentioned, Slevin does a "just one more thing" to The Rabbi. [[spoiler:Film/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]].

* TrappedByGamblingDebts: Although they're actually Nick's debts. Since [[spoiler:the trapping was planned, this can be considered an InvokedTrope]].

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: There are two sets of them: Elvis and Sloe, the black gangsters; and Saul and the Mute, the Jewish gangsters.

** Mykelti Williams' character has a noticeable physical tic where he constantly has his upper lip raised. In his most famous role -- Bubba in ''ForrestGump'' -- he had a similar tic where his lower lip was constantly extended.

''Lucky Number Slevin'' borrows several storytelling techniques from numerous sources, the most notable being [[Creator/QuentinTarantino Tarantino]] storytelling (e.g., inconsistent [[InMediasRes ordering]] and [[FlashbackCut cutaways]]) and [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]] plots (most notably ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''). The film has become something of a CultClassic [[CriticalDissonance in spite of a cold critical reception]]; it is also the final film to feature Bruce Willis with hair. Oh, and it is the TropeNamer for KansasCityShuffle through one of the songs on its soundtrack.

[[caption-width-right:275: [-BruceWillis [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou is about to shoot both of the guys standing next to you]]! -] ]]

* KansasCityShuffle: Discussed. [[spoiler:The Boss and The Rabbi both assume the other is using Slevin to somehow con them, and thus begin trying to manipulate Slevin to exploit their enemy's con. The true con turns out to be from Slevin himself, who just wanted access to both The Boss and The Rabbi so he could exact revenge for the death of his parents.]]

* KansasCityShuffle: Discussed. [[spoiler:The Boss and The Rabbi both assume the other is using Slevin to somehow con the other, and thus begin trying to manipulate Slevin to exploit their enemy's con. The true con turns out to be from Slevin himself, who just wanted access to both The Boss and The Rabbi so he could exact revenge for the death of his parents.]]

* KansasCityShuffle: Discussed, though the film itself is not actually an example of the trope, because [[spoiler:The Boss and The Rabbi never figure out that a con is happening to them, let alone try and maneuver their way out of it. They only ever figure out that a con is happening when Slevin tells them the truth--moments before killing them]].

* TranquilFury[=/=]PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler: "You killed everything I love. ''Fuck you both''." Slevin doesn't raise his voice once during his entire MotiveRant]].
* UnfazedEveryman: Not alien or fantastical, but Slevin Kelevra shortly after the intro gets pulled into the world of mob bosses and hit men (by being mistaken for a dude that owes them a lot of money), but acts completely unfazed by most of his ordeals. Subverted though, [[spoiler: in that he ''intended'' for all this to happen, so he could enact his revenge upon the mob bosses who killed his father]].

* InTheStyleOf: The lightning-fast dialogue with constant references to other films and tv shows can't fail to make one think of Tarantino.

A 2006 BlackComedy {{Thriller}} mixed with FilmNoir style, ''Lucky Number Slevin'' (released, bizarrely, as ''The Wrong Man'' only in Australia) The film features an all-star cast comprised of Creator/JoshHartnett, Creator/LucyLiu, Creator/BenKingsley, Creator/MorganFreeman, and Creator/BruceWillis.

The movie opens with [[OnlyOneName Smith]] telling a stranger of a KansasCityShuffle, recounting of an old horse race where a trainer tries to fix a race with a "drugstore handicap".[[note]]By drugging a strong horse, it can be made it a minor contender; by then taking it off the drugs for a specific race, its strong and unexpected performance boost allows a surprise win despite awful winning odds. In other words, people who know of the fix can stick lots of cash on the bet and win big easily.[[/note]] He tells a friend, who tells a friend, before it soon hits a family man Max; betting huge cash he doesn't have, Max then watches in horror when the horse breaks its leg on the home stretch. The bookie's associates decide to make an example of Max, beating and suffocating him after having hitmen murder his wife and son. Ending the story, Smith clarifies that the story itself isn't a shuffle, and points off to the man's left; slipping to the right, Smith breaks his neck.

Meanwhile, 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 taken in by two groups of thugs: the first belonging to "The Boss", a gangster demanding payment on $96,000 of debt; and the second The Boss' nemesis, "The Rabbi", who also wants debts paying, which total $33,000. Owing a vast amount to both with little time to pay, compounded with the fact neither entertaining the idea he isn't Nick, Slevin ''then'' finds himself trapped further when The Boss offers to wipe the larger debt provided he assassinate The Rabbi's son. Of course, things get worse when it's clear Smith is somehow tied into it all, and ''everyone seems to have their own motives...''

Borrowing heavily from several sources, such as [[Creator/QuentinTarantino Tarantino]] storytelling (e.g. inconsistent [[InMediasRes ordering]] and [[FlashbackCut cutaways]]) and [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]] plots (most notably ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''), ''Lucky Number Slevin'' was received well enough to be a CultClassic of sorts, [[CriticalDissonance despite a cold critical reception]]. The movie is notable as the final film to co-star Bruce Willis with hair, and is the TropeNamer for KansasCityShuffle through one its songs (and a murderous tactic by Willis' character).

!! This film provides examples of:

** There are even a few occasions where Slevin does this to just troll people. Especially when when he first meets the Boss and he explaining the ongoing situation to Slevin. At first, he's asking perfectly reasonable questions. Then at some point in the conversation, Slevin just starts pestering the Boss for kicks. He even has the audacity to grin before starting this line of questions.

** [[spoiler: Both The Boss and The Rabbi]].
** [[spoiler: Nick Fisher, who seems entirely harmless at the start of the film, is revealed to have been a sex offender who served eight years in prison for forcing himself on a fourteen year old cheerleader]].

* KansasCityShuffle: Discussed, though the film itself is not actually an example of the trope, because [[spoiler:The Boss and The Rabbi never even figure out that a con is happening to them, let alone try and manoeuvre their way out of it.]]

** [[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]]]].
** The Rabbi and his son, the Fairy. Why do they call him the Rabbi? [[ShapedLikeItself Because he is a rabbi.]] Why do they call him the Fairy? Because he's a fairy.

* 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.'']]
* MobWar: Between the Boss and the Rabbi. It has escalated to the point where neither can leave his penthouse for fear of being executed by the other.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: 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.''
* OhCrap: Slevin does this twice -- once when Brikowski confronts him in the men's room at the restaurant, and once when Goodkat sees him with Lindsey, [[spoiler:who's supposed to be dead]]. He recovers fairly quickly in both instances.
* 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]].
* PinballProtagonist: Slevin Kelevra is apparently this during the beginning of the film, [[spoiler: before the Kansas City Shuffle and Slevin's true intentions are revealed]]

* AssholeVictim: Nick Fisher, who seems entirely harmless at the start of the film, is revealed to have been a sex offender who served eight years in prison for forcing himself on a fourteen year old cheerleader.

* FakeDefector: The way Sleven plays both sides.

* KansasCityShuffle: TropeNamer.

* PlayingBothSides: Slevin turns a gang warfare into a full-blown KansasCityShuffle.

* SecondPersonAttack: The film does this with the death of The Rabbi's bookie (who died from having a baseball thrown at his head).

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Goodkat and Slevin, as they each report to The Boss.