Every year there’s this kind of all-star crime film that is nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is. I’m thinking of films like the Ed Burns/Rachel Weitz starrer Confidence or even the William H. Macy/Maria Bello film The Cooler. These films do pick up their fans, particularly among college-aged viewers looking for twists for twists sake, but they are deeply flawed at their core.

Add to that list Lucky Number Slevin. Josh Hartnet stars as a guy mistaken for a guy who owes money to a bookie, who gets pulled into a crime war between mob boss Morgan Freeman and Jewish mob boss Sir Ben Kingsley that is being orchestrated famed international assassin Bruce Willis. Throw in Lucy Liu as a perky and annoying coroner, with witty banter replacing actual dialog, and you’ve got one flashy indie films that is empty at its core. Horrible. And with bad art design, too.

-Andy Spletzer slogging from Sundance in Park City, Utah