Once upon a time, not too long ago, Liam Neeson claimed he was going to give up doing action movies. But he didn't put the gun down for very long - or at all - because just in the last few years he's made movies like "Cold Pursuit" and "The Commuter," which all fit into the "Taken"-esque world Neeson invented for himself when he rebranded as an action star. His latest, "Honest Thief" feels like just another outing for a Neeson on a mission movie and its bland routineness is its biggest downfall.
Neeson has always worked consistently but in 2009 he felt like a new movie star with "Taken," which was a surprise hit very early on that year. Of course, its success spawned two terrible sequels and an entire universe that required the actor to run from or towards generic bad guys. Sometimes these films worked really well (2014's "A Walk Among the Tombstones" and 2015's "Run All Night"), and other times his movies have felt like factory-made action pictures (2011's "Unknown," 2018's "The Commuter" and last year's dismal "Cold Pursuit"). "Honest Thief" resides in a bland purgatory between these groups.
In director Mark Williams' "Honest Thief," Neeson plays Tom, an elusive bank robber the FBI has dubbed the "In and Out Bandit." He's meticulous and successful - stealing $9 million from various banks - but has eluded punishment throughout his criminal career. Tom wants to clear his conscience and confess to the robberies. He tries to turn himself in but it's not that easy. The feds have grown accustom to false confessions regarding this case. Jeffrey Donovan and Robert Patrick star as the FBI officers he tries to make a deal with, and Jai Courtney and Anthony Ramos co-star as the agents with a different agenda.
As you can expect, things don't go smoothly for Tom has he tries to start a new life with his girlfriend Annie (Kate Walsh), but he is determined to clear his name and make amends so they can live together without any secrets. "Honest Thief" fits Neeson like a glove, but perhaps the glove is getting a bit worn because any action or would-be thrills feel stale and completely routine, rarely allowing any surprise or excitement. A 95-minute action-thriller doesn't have to break new ground, but it should never feel as dull as "Honest Thief" does.
In Neeson's defense, he does step outside of the gun-toting genre every once and while, including two times this year with the soapy but effective "Ordinary Love" and the well-meaning but unsuccessful "Made in Italy," in which he co-starred with his real-life son. It's nice to know that Neeson hasn't totally committed himself solely to these easy paycheck movies but perhaps it's officially time to let them go. Who could possibly be left for him to find or hunt down?
"Honest Thief" will be released theatrically starting October 16.
0 comments:
Post a Comment