Thursday, October 15, 2020

Honest Thief Movie Review

Liam Neeson stars in Honest Thief

Let's Make a Deal

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Hoping to cut a deal, a professional bank robber (Liam Neeson) agrees to return all the money he stole in exchange for a reduced sentence. But when two FBI agents set him up for murder, he must now go on the run to clear his name and bring them to justice.


Starring: Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Robert Patrick, Anthony Ramos, Jeffrey Donovan, and Jai Courtney

What's Good: Neeson's no spring chicken (68, sneaky old) but he can still carry an action film (pretty much) by himself. He's a familiar hero, who doesn't push the boundaries of common sense (with the possible exception of falling out of a hotel window.) The Taken star even manages to toss in a little romance with an engaging Kate Walsh, although...

What's Not: If you're expecting Taken (1, 2 or 3) Cold Pursuit, The Commuter, etc., you might be disappointed. Mark Williams' story ditches the fast pace we're used to, in exchange for "the need to feel love." It's not overkill per se, but it does garner a sizable amount of time. Time, most of us would prefer spent on a few more explosions or gunfire. It's also light on frills and special effects, with suspect writing ("I'm the In & Out Bandit. I want to turn myself in.") Not exactly Shakespeare, is it?

Budget: N/A (but it doesn't look expensive.)

Runtime: 99 minutes (Almost perfect.)

Target Audience: Liam Neeson. Ring a bell?

Bottom Line: There's not much out there, so any chance to see a bonafide movie star in a half-decent movie is worth getting excited about. The acting is passable, with a few bits of action & violence to quench the thirst of action fans who have already seen Tenet twice (or thrice.) Until we get more choices, I'm going to give this film a...

GradeB- (Truth be told, it's barely above average, but I was happy to see something new and (fairly) entertaining.)