Lazy writing and Logan Lucky

I actually drive a v8 Mustang, and hell yea it is a stick…

There were enough of us home that we decided to go see a movie, and the one thing we all agreed on was Logan Lucky. I am going to try really hard to not spoil the movie for anyone who wants to see it but hasn’t yet, but this is your SPOIL ALERT warning. Read at your own risk.

I did enjoy the movie and don’t regret going to see it in the theater. However, there were two things about the movie that took away from the enjoyment.

First, there were some unanswered questions. You don’t need to have every question or problem answered to have a good story, but the major ones need to be addressed without the audience feeling unsatisfied. In Logan Lucky,  the dad started a chain of events because he needed a lawyer to stop his ex-wife, who was sole custodian of their daughter, from moving to another state. And yet at the very end, that is what happened in spite of his success. It just doesn’t add up and play into the character of the very loving dad.

The other issue I had was the introduction of characters at the last minute. I understand that the directors were trying to keep the plot twist quiet, but to have someone that the dad trusted more than the main characters in the movie to help him with the secret twist be someone that we had never seen on screen before is pretty lazy. It is like the mystery writers who run you through a bunch of characters to make you guess who did it, only to find out that it was some random psycho that happened to show up.  There is probably a scene somewhere on the cutting room floor that hopefully explains the relationship of this mysterious person. Otherwise, why not at least have him be someone that works as a bouncer in the bar?

There were a couple of other, smaller issues but I don’t want to be picking on what was a pretty decent movie. What I am taking away from this is that in my writing, I will map out my plots and not cheap out by introducing characters to fill a gap that don’t make sense.

Have a good day.

Paula

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