'Logan Lucky' is a little too lightweight, even for Steven Soderbergh

There is nothing inherently wrong with Logan Lucky, it's got a great cast. it looks great, it has many fun, laugh-out-loud moments. But it's hard to shake the feeling that you're watching something that's already been done several times before, and better. Which is why it makes for an odd return to filmmaking for director Steven Soderbergh.

This is first film after a self-imposed exile from movie-making that felt as permanent as Jay-Z's 'retirement.' I was never 100% clear on why Soderbergh was hanging it up early anyway. I thought it had something to do with the comic book movie direction of the industry, and how smart, adult driven films like his were falling out of favor (although Magic Mike and Contagion both proved to be later career commercial hits for him).

But what does he do with his return to the fold? He makes a fairly mainstream, audience-pleasing heist film which is referred to (in a knowingly meta way as Ocean's 7-11). It's not trying to make a major cinematic statement, instead it just feels almost like a practice run for something more ambitious.

The set-up is intriguing enough -- two bumbling West Virginia brothers (Adam Driver and Channing Tatum) plot an elaborate break-in to the vault of a local speedway racing facility, aided by explosives expert Joe Bang (a hilarious Daniel Craig), his two dumb brothers and their beauty parlor stylist sister (Riley Keough).

Some of the actors revel with the broad material while others struggle to find a character within it. A bleached blonde Craig gives the most fully rounded, memorable performance, Driver has a real field day leaning into his over the top drawl with incredible deadpan timing, and country singer Dwight Yoakam is uproarious as an arrogant, ineffective prison warden.

But Tatum on the other hand never makes a strong lead character choice (is he a hapless loser or a shrewd tactician?) and although he sports a nifty British accent, I found Seth MacFarlane's presence in this this movie as an obnoxious NASCAR owner distracting.

The women characters fare even worse: Katie Holmes isn't believable as Tatum's long suffering ex-wife, I never felt like Keough's motivation for participating in the caper is established -- she is mostly passive throughout the movie, Katherine Waterson is wasted in a small part that felt tacked on unnecessarily, and I have no idea what Hillary Swank is going for in her monotone performance as a clenched-jawed FBI agent later in the film, but it really didn't work for me.

The heist itself is fun and clever enough, but I couldn't shake the impression that the set pieces in Soderbergh's previous Ocean's films were infinitely superior, and perhaps that's the point, that this is a low tech version of what George Clooney and company pulled off in that blockbuster trilogy, but while those movies were also light and breezy, they still felt like they had more at stake and had a signature style that was unmistakably Soderbergh.

Besides the funky soundtrack, this feels like a movie a lot of directors could have made. It's unclear to me what is was about this particular story that spoke to Soderbergh or compelled him to want to make it after three years away from the film business.

I did largely enjoy it though, although it does condescend to the culture it's lampooning to its detriment, and it feels a little underwhelming as the film that marks Soderbergh's triumphant return.

I am still excited to see what he does next, and I just hope he takes on a project that isn't so steeped in his own comfort zone.