Lucky Number Slevin Credit: The Weinstein Company

Lucky Number Slevin, one of the odder titles around, will get under your skin with its stylish production design, slick dialogue and offbeat characters. This pop-culture-infused mistaken-identity thriller ultimately grabs hold and beguiles, though its convoluted plot takes a while to get going.

The film opens brutally, with excruciating scenes that require a strong stomach. Then the action lulls with Bruce Willis in obscure storytelling mode.

It isn't until Josh Hartnett gets on the scene and the twisting and turning plot gets underway that the film really kicks into high gear. Hartnett, whose charisma is firmly established with this film, plays Slevin Kelevra, one of those names that will stay with you the way The Usual Suspects' Keyser Soze did a decade ago. The movie borrows from that 1995 film, as well as from 1994's Pulp Fiction.

Lucky Number Slevin Credit: The Weinstein Company

Slevin is a smart, fearless guy who appears to be appallingly unlucky. In the midst of his streak of bad fortune, however, he meets Lucy Liu, who plays a charming fast-talker named Lindsey. The two set off sparks; their clever banter is reminiscent of '40s-era films.