Honest Thief |
Liam Neeson is the Honest Thief.
Wanting to lead an honest life, a notorious bank robber turns himself in, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents.
Stars: Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney
Honest Thief | Official Trailer
REVIEW: Honest Thief
Another Liam Neeson-starring movie, another bland action film with little else going for it beyond its main attraction.
The genre must pay well, but it has sadly been years since the Irish actor's particular set of skills anchored a fist-flinging, chase-filled feature worthy of his talents. In Honest Thief, Neeson plays elusive bank robber Tom, who is also known as the 'in-and-out bandit'. A year after unexpectedly falling in love with psychology graduate student Annie (Kate Walsh) - and a year after he last indulged his pilfering urges, too - he decides to turn himself in to the FBI in exchange for a lesser sentence and the chance to make a real future. Answering his call, agents Baker (Robert Patrick) and Meyers (Jeffrey Donavan) are skeptical that he's actual the culprit. When their colleagues Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos) are given the case, however, they take another approach that sees Neeson rushing around Boston and fighting for his life against corrupt, trigger-happy law enforcement officials.
There's only one real surprise in store in Honest Thief, a movie that writer/director Mark Williams (A Family Man) and his co-scribe Steve Ullrich (The Timber) could've almost cobbled together using scenes from other Neeson action vehicles. No one is astonished that, despite being a bank robber, Neeson's character is the movie's hero. No one should expect anything unusual in its workman-like action choreography or by-the-numbers plot, either. But the fact that the movie also features a heap of well-known names and faces alongside Neeson - including The Umbrella Academy's Walsh, The X-Files' Patrick, Fargo's Donovan, Aussie Stateless star Courtney and Hamilton's Ramos - is a little startling. They're all wasted, because Honest Thief only tasks its other actors with giving Neeson someone to talk to, kiss, hunt down or flee. That's how generic this addition to his resume proves. Indeed, 2020 hasn't been great for Neeson fans, even with Made in Italy (see below) eschewing action for father-son bonding. His most recent great roles might've only been back in 2016 and 2018, courtesy of Silence, Widows and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, but they currently seem like a distant memory.
By Sarah Ward - concreteplayground.com
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