Synopsis

After a case of mistaken identity lands Slevin in a New York crime war, he is forced to settle a gambling debt owed to one powerful boss by carrying out a hit against the son of another. Watched by a suspicious detective and a legendary assassin, Slevin must navigate rival factions, hidden motives, and a deadly scheme in which appearances are never what they seem.

Factoids & Trivia

• Screenwriter Jason Smilovic began developing the story in 1997, initially imagining it as the tale of a man who was simply extraordinarily unlucky.

• Principal photography began in Montreal in January 2005, continued with exterior work in New York, and included an additional week of filming in Toronto.

• The opposing apartment towers were created from a single building near New York's Meatpacking District. The film's elaborate 180-degree move between the two buildings combined practical sets, visual effects, and New York skyline plates.

• The Boss's and The Rabbi's interiors were filmed on the same stage only four days apart. The production team completely redressed the set to transform one crime lord's headquarters into the other's.

• The long confrontation between The Boss and The Rabbi was designed so the characters were tied back-to-back and could act mainly from the neck up. The finished scene runs for approximately nine minutes.

• The film deliberately avoids a precise period setting. Its production design mixes modern and older styles, while Slevin's wardrobe was given a 1970s-inspired look to make him seem quirky and non-threatening.

• In Australia, the film was released under the alternate title The Wrong Man.

• The film was one of the relatively few titles released on the short-lived HD-VMD home-video format.