Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Lucky Number Slevin is a 2006 crime thriller film written by Jason Smilovic, directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, and Lucy Liu. Set in New York City, the plot focuses on the paths of Slevin Kelevra (Hartnett), Lindsey (Liu), two feuding crime lords known as The Boss (Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley), and a mysterious hitman known as Mr. Goodkat (Willis).

Over the film's opening credits, two bookies are ambushed in separate locations and murdered, their ledgers stolen from their bodies by unseen killers. Elsewhere, a man walks out of a downtown building, and is shot by a sniper.

Later, at a bus terminal, a young man, Nick Fisher, is approached by a man in a wheelchair, Goodkat (Bruce Willis), who tells the story of Max. Around twenty years ago, Max bet borrowed money on a fixed horse race. The mobsters financing the fix discovered others betting on it, leading them to murder Max, his wife, and his son. Goodkat concludes the story and he promptly snaps the man's neck, and puts him in the back of a truck.

In New York City, Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) answers the door to his friend Nick Fisher’s apartment. He meets Nick’s neighbor Lindsey (Lucy Liu), who ducks into Fisher's apartment to borrow some sugar. Slevin relates that he is visiting after some recent bad luck and that when he arrived in New York he was mugged. He confesses he has not seen Nick, and that the apartment was unlocked when he arrived. Lindsey suggests that maybe Nick is missing, and that she and Slevin should investigate together later.

Moments later, after Lindsey leaves for work, Slevin is kidnapped by two henchmen. They take him to The Boss, a powerful crime lord who has mistaken Slevin for Nick. The Boss orders Slevin to repay Nick's debt. As an alternative to payment, he offers Slevin the option of murdering his Jewish rival Schlomo The Rabbi’s homosexual son, Yitzchok The Fairy, in retaliation for the Rabbi's apparent involvement in the death of the Boss' son. After he leaves, Goodkat steps out of the shadows, revealing his involvement with The Boss.

Slevin returns to the apartment and Lindsey shows up again. They plan to go on a date later that night, and after Lindsey leaves, Slevin is kidnapped again, this time by The Rabbi's gang. The Rabbi also mistakes Slevin for Nick and demands he pays Nick's sizeable debt to him. As Slevin leaves, Goodkat comes out from hiding in the Rabbi's penthouse.

Slevin returns to the Boss and agrees to kill The Fairy. The Boss gives him three days, and he recommends that Slevin approach The Fairy romantically, as he is a homosexual. Intercut with this conversation, Goodkat tells the Boss that he will kill Slevin and the Fairy when they are together, and that he will make it look like a suicide. Slevin and Lindsey go out to dinner, where they survey The Fairy. Excusing himself, Slevin approaches The Fairy in the restrooms and exchanges phone numbers for a future date. Returning home, Slevin spends the night in Lindsey's apartment.

In the morning, Slevin is hassled by Brikowski and his men, and is later picked up by The Boss' henchmen. As they leave, The Rabbi's henchmen are shown to have been shot. That night, Slevin visits The Fairy at his apartment and shoots him. Goodkat appears while The Fairy is dying and shoots him again. As Slevin goes to get the body of the young man from the bus terminal that Goodkat killed earlier, Goodkat kills The Fairy's bodyguards. They then get rid of the evidence by blowing up the apartment.

Goodkat visits the Boss, killing his bodyguards and taking him hostage, while Slevin kidnaps the Rabbi. Hours later, both the Boss and the Rabbi awaken, restrained to chairs in the Boss' penthouse. Their squabbles are interrupted by Slevin, who explains how the bookies were killed in order to find a name in each book who owed the bosses money: Nick Fisher. Slevin murdered the Boss's son, and Goodkat manipulated the resulting gang warfare and job offers to allow Slevin to gain access to both crime lords. Slevin reveals that the story of Max is that of himself and his father. Goodkat was hired to kill Slevin, but he spared him instead. It is also revealed that the Rabbi and the Boss were the ones who killed Max, and that Detective Brikowski killed Slevin’s mother. As payback, Slevin asphyxiates them in the same manner his father was killed. Meanwhile, Goodkat appears at the morgue where Lindsey works and shoots her to protect his identity. Later, Detective Brikowski is shot and killed by Slevin.

Sometime later at the bus terminal, Slevin looks up to see Lindsey. They embrace and it is revealed that Slevin knew Goodkat would try to kill her, so they staged her death. Looking around, Slevin sees Goodkat, and he convinces him to spare her and leave.

The film closes with Goodkat and the young Slevin shortly after Max's death. Goodkat takes Slevin into his car and tells him that it will be a long time before they can return to New York.