'Slevin' luckier than you might think

The Kansas City Shuffle -- when everybody looks right, you go left. Simple enough, eh?\nWriter Jason Smilovic does a great job writing a screenplay that, without the audience's awareness, revolves around the simple technique. Touché, Jason, for scoring on your first big screenplay. With the help from director Paul McGuigan (Wicker Park), "Lucky Number Slevin" turned out to be a connect-the-dots crime thriller that, partially thanks to its all-star cast, is enjoyably entertaining. \n"Slevin" doesn't waste any time. From the very beginning of the movie, you know you're dealing with the mob; at least three people are killed within the first five minutes. Not a fan of gory murder movies? Don't worry, the movie winds down from there, but not in a bad way. At the beginning of the movie Goodkat, (played by Bruce Willis), is at a bus stop where he tells a stranger the story behind the Kansas City shuffle. The story begins by describing an event that took place in 1979, where a man is told about a fixed horse race and places a large bet. When the horse set to win had a heart attack in the middle of the race, the man is left with no money to pay off debt he owed the mob. The mob then arranges for the man, his wife, his bookie and his son to be killed. \nBack in the present day: Slevin Kelevra (Blackhawk Down's Josh Hartnett) is in town visiting his friend, Nick. The only problem is once Slevin reaches Nick's apartment, the door is open, and Nick isn't around; however, Nick's perky neighbor, Lindsey (Lucy Liu), is, and she and Slevin immediately share an attraction. Then, while waiting for his friend, Slevin is greeted by two mob men who, believing Slevin is Nick, claim he owes money to The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Unable to convince The Boss of his real identity, Slevin is told the only way to make up for the money he owes is to kill The Boss' rival, the son of the rabbi, (Sir Ben Kingsley). Slevin agrees to fulfill this demand.\nThe ensemble cast made the movie more entertaining. Willis plays his usual assassin character, and Freeman's performance is flawless, though it isn't the toughest role ever encountered. And of course Hartnett, Kingsley, Liu, along with Stanley Tucci, are all very impressive.\nThe DVD comes with the standard extra features, including the making of the movie and commentaries. The few deleted scenes that are included with the DVD are very boring; It makes sense that they were deleted. The DVD also comes with an alternate ending, which was good, but not as satisfying as the one