A breezy paced crime caper of high entertainment value and a surprising amount of heart, whatever stakes are missing from Logan Lucky are made up by Steven Soderbergh’s assured direction and the terrific performances of his cast.

Want to know what makes Fonzie so cool? It’s all about style and delivery, a laid-back charm that is personified in action. In that respect Steven Soderbergh is the Fonzie of film directors. Where Quentin Tarantino tries too hard, and Wes Anderson belongs more in the quirky club, Soderbergh’s films have an ease to them that is quite remarkable considering the many complicated mechanisms happening under their cool exteriors.

Logan Lucky is a case in point. Soderbergh’s first film after his brief, self-imposed retirement from feature filmmaking, this supposedly based on true story crime caper belongs very much in the vein of Soderberg’s Oceans trilogy in its genre, style and all-star casting. Yet there is a surprising emotional core in Logan Lucky that successfully separates it from the George Clooney led casino hijinks of the Oceans movies.

This is found in the story of Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) a once promising American football prospect turned blue collar worker, who is fired from his job due to liability issues. When his ex-wife Bobbi Joe (Katie Holmes) states her intent to move out of state with their daughter Sadie (Farrah McKenzie), a cash strapped Jimmy recruits his one-armed Iraq veteran brother Clyde (Adam Driver), and imprisoned safecracker Joe Bang (Daniel Craig), on a daring heist of the Charlotte Motor Speedway during the incredibly busy and lucrative Memorial Day weekend.

There is a confident to the pacing and tone of Logan Lucky that can’t be denied. If a movie could strut, Logan Lucky would look like Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, so confident in its ability to impress and to please its audience with its entertaining heist hijinks. While there is no doubting the outcome of the criminal activities taking place, Soderbergh never the less engages the audience through sequences of fun filled capering, ranging from a jail-break to a gummy-bear bomb explosion (yes, you read that right, and it’s very real as well!)

The films colourful characters are entertainingly portrayed by a stellar cast, with a peroxide haired, hilly billy accented Daniel Craig the stand out, delivering what must be the closest to a comedic performance from the James Bond star. Soderbergh has a history of assembling huge all-star casts and getting great performances from them, and Logan Lucky stands as one of the best examples.

The films conclusion hints at the promise of a sequel. If so it’s welcome news, with Logan Lucky a welcome return to the cinema by one of its great directors.