‘Logan Lucky’ is a smart caper with a twang

Director Steven Soderbergh is back and firing on all cylinders in “Logan Lucky,” a Southern-fried heist comedy that is, like its main characters, smarter than it lets on.

Soderbergh, returning after a four-year “retirement” from movies, and rookie screenwriter Rebecca Blunt deconstruct the “Ocean’s 11” model, with down-home charm replacing the Vegas glitz.

Channing Tatum, who starred in Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike,” stars as Jimmy Logan, who seems to have multiple strikes going against him. He’s divorced, sharing custody of cute-as-a-button daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie) with his remarried ex Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes). He was once a high-school football phenom, but his pro dreams were thwarted when he blew out his knee — an injury that costs him a construction job at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, over the state line or two from his West Virginia home.

Jimmy’s brother, Clyde (Adam Driver), may have it worse. Clyde lost part of his arm while serving in Iraq, and he makes a meager living as a bartender — dealing with the likes of Max Chilblain (played by “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane), an arrogant energy-drink tycoon who’s using some of his millions to bankroll a NASCAR team. Clyde believes the Logan family is cursed with bad luck, but their hairdresser sister, Mellie (Riley Keough), doesn’t buy into that.

Jimmy hatches a plot to reverse the Logans’ misfortune by robbing the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He knows the money from speedway concessions is funneled through old-school pneumatic tubes to a vault. His plan is to breach the tube system and vacuum up the cash, preferably on a quiet weekend when there’s minimal security.

Jimmy enlists Clyde, but they realize they need a safe-cracking expert — and the best one they know is Joe Bang (played by Daniel Craig). Alas, Joe is a long-term guest of the Monroe Correctional Facility and its buttoned-down Warden Burns (Dwight Yoakam). So Jimmy has to figure out how to enlist Joe’s none-too-bright brothers (Brian Gleeson and Jack Quaid) and get Joe out of prison and back before anyone notices.

He also has to deal with a schedule change that moves the heist up one week — to the weekend of the Coca-Cola 600, the biggest event of the racetrack’s year.

Other characters who weave their way into this fast-and-furious story include a mobile-clinic doctor (Katherine Waterston) Jimmy knew in high school, a yoga-bending NASCAR driver (Sebastian Shaw) and a dogged FBI agent (Hilary Swank) who shows up in the final half-hour.

Blunt’s script is a cagey mix of “Ocean’s 11” pacing and Coen brothers caricature, and it’s drop-dead funny and fiendishly smart. It’s such a great showing by a first-time screenwriter that industry wags have speculated that “Rebecca Blunt” is a nom de plume for Soderbergh or for his wife, former E! host Jules Asner. This speculation carries a whiff of sexism, suggesting that a woman — either Asner or Blunt — could never concoct such cleverness by herself.

Soderbergh’s direction, editing and cinematography combine to propel “Logan Lucky” along for a fun, free-wheeling caper. In the last 30 minutes, though, he turns on the afterburners for a tasty conclusion that will make the viewer question what went on before — and may compel a second viewing to see where the clues were buried all along.

“Logan Lucky” gets a high-octane kick from a witty ensemble, actors who deploy more comic chops than just an Appalachian accent. The closing credits say “introducing Daniel Craig,” and seeing him happily depart from his brooding James Bond persona does feel like a revelation.