{"id":2100490,"date":"2025-10-18T19:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T19:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2100490"},"modified":"2025-10-18T19:16:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T19:16:17","slug":"critics-hated-this-bruce-willis-box-office-flop-but-fans-have-learned-to-love-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/critics-hated-this-bruce-willis-box-office-flop-but-fans-have-learned-to-love-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics Hated This Bruce Willis Box Office Flop, But Fans Have Learned To Love It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Have you ever heard of a Kansas City Shuffle? It&#8217;s a kind of confidence game where your target looks left and you go right, and it&#8217;s the central design of the wildly entertaining 2006 neo-noir dark comedy &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin.&#8221;\u00a0While critics were pretty tough on the movie and many felt like it was just another Tarantino knock-off, audiences have found a lot to love in this offbeat mid-2000s gem. Sure, it didn&#8217;t exactly knock it out of the park at the box office, earning only $56 million worldwide, but home video and streaming helped &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin&#8221; reach new viewers who appreciate the twists, pitch black humor, and gorgeous aesthetics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\/Film&#8217;s own Ben Pearson ranks &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin&#8221; among his <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/549933\/ben-pearsons-favorite-movies-of-all-time\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:favorite films of all time;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">favorite films of all time<\/a>, pointing out phenomenal performances by Josh Hartnett, Lucy\u00a0Liu, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsley, plus the incredible production design, with some of the best uses of wallpaper in a movie <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/849005\/the-daily-stream-garden-state-captures-the-heartache-of-growing-up\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:this side of &quot;Garden State.&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">this side of &#8220;Garden State.&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0Not only that, but it has Bruce Willis playing the perfect kind of detached cool guy, and he gets to deliver lines about Charlie Chaplin losing a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest. What&#8217;s not to love?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1661135\/greatest-character-actors-all-time-ranked\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The Greatest Character Actors Of All Time, Ranked;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The Greatest Character Actors Of All Time, Ranked<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Lucky Number Slevin is a stylish dark comedy with killer performances<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Josh Hartnett as Slevin Kelevra and Lucy Liu as Lindsey sitting by the phone and staring at it in Lucky Number Slevin &#8211; MGM<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Long before he was offering up the daddy of all <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1645597\/josh-hartnett-trap-shirtless-scene-explained\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:shirtless thirst trap scenes in M.\u00a0Night Shyamalan's &quot;Trap,&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">shirtless thirst trap scenes in M.\u00a0Night Shyamalan&#8217;s &#8220;Trap,&#8221;<\/a> Josh Hartnett played a seemingly down-on-his-luck tourist named Slevin Kelevra who gets mugged and then mistaken for the friend he&#8217;s visiting (who also happens to be missing). That friend apparently owes a whole bunch of money to mob boss The\u00a0Boss (Morgan Freeman), and so Slevin is tasked with either paying him back or killing the son of his rival, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley). Along the way, he meets and falls for his friend&#8217;s neighbor, Lindsey (Lucy Liu), who appoints herself as an amateur detective and decides to help Slevin. Liu and Hartnett have exquisite onscreen chemistry both comedically and romantically, and are giving career-best performances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When you add in the fact that <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1110088\/the-best-ben-kingsley-movies-ranked\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kingsley absolutely chomps the scenery;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kingsley absolutely chomps the scenery<\/a> and\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/604649\/ranking-morgan-freemans-best-roles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Freeman devours it alongside him;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Freeman devours it alongside him<\/a>, there&#8217;s more than enough great acting and visual panache to make &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin&#8221; feel like something more than the average &#8220;Pulp\u00a0Fiction&#8221; wannabe. Really, the only thing holding it back from being an all-timer is some attempts at edgy dialogue that haven&#8217;t aged all that well, with some slurs that were (wrongly) found more socially acceptable circa 2006. Then again, the only people using said slurs actively are horrible criminals, so it could be a lot worse.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Lucky Number Slevin is a fun time at the movies<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Ben Kingsley as The Rabbi and Morgan Freeman as The Boss tied to chairs back to back and looking terrified in Lucky Number Slevin\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/i.MgozAAk7JcKPiA6JT61g--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTUzOTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/slashfilm_articles_873\/d4fb3b23d5df503f5050b01167c232a8\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Ben Kingsley as The Rabbi and Morgan Freeman as The Boss tied to chairs back to back and looking terrified in Lucky Number Slevin &#8211; MGM<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Lucky\u00a0Number Slevin&#8221; didn&#8217;t reinvent the wheel when it comes to crime cinema, but it really didn&#8217;t need to. It&#8217;s a sharp and stylish movie that feels like screenwriter\u00a0Jason Smilovic and director\u00a0Paul McGuigan really had a vision for, and it&#8217;s honestly kind of nice to watch something never intended for sequelization. There&#8217;s something about a neat and tidy two hours of entertainment at the cinema that feels almost antiquated now, when almost everything is tied to a franchise or is a three-and-a-half-hour epic from a beloved auteur, and &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin&#8221; was that kind of uncomplicated good time at the movies. And while he&#8217;s not in it a tremendous amount, it&#8217;s one of the last <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/833867\/the-best-bruce-willis-roles-ranked\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:great Bruce Willis performances;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">great Bruce Willis performances<\/a>, along with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1026363\/the-daily-stream-10-years-ago-looper-broke-the-circle-even-if-hollywood-didnt\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rian\u00a0Johnson's 2012 sci-fi bummer\u00a0&quot;Looper.&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rian\u00a0Johnson&#8217;s 2012 sci-fi bummer\u00a0&#8220;Looper.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you want to check out a movie that feels like a time capsule of its era&#8217;s filmmaking with some peak performances, witty writing, and serious sex appeal a&#8217;la Harnett and Lawless, look no further than &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Just watch out for that Kansas City Shuffle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.slashfilm.com\/newsletter-syndicated\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sign up to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sign up to our free newsletter<\/a>? You can also <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=slashfilm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:add us as a preferred search source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1974616\/critics-hate-bruce-willis-flop-fans-love-lucky-number-slevin\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on SlashFilm;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on SlashFilm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever heard of a Kansas City Shuffle? It&#8217;s a kind of confidence game where your target looks left and you go right, and it&#8217;s the central design of the wildly entertaining 2006 neo-noir dark comedy &#8220;Lucky Number Slevin.&#8221;\u00a0While critics were pretty tough on the movie and many felt like it was just another [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2100491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[336479,39659,383683,397061,397059,345800,345971,397060],"class_list":["post-2100490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ben-kingsley","tag-bruce-willis","tag-josh-hartnett","tag-kansas-city-shuffle","tag-lucky-number-slevin","tag-lucy-liu","tag-morgan-freeman","tag-slevin-kelevra"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Critics-Hated-This-Bruce-Willis-Box-Office-Flop-But-Fans.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2100490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2100492,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100490\/revisions\/2100492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2100491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2100490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2100490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2100490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}