Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “Honest Thief” Is 99 Minutes Of Sheer Predictable Fun


 

Wanting to lead an honest life, a notorious bank robber turns himself in, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents.

Little did the world know that Irish actor Liam Neeson, best known for his dramatic roles in such films as “Schindler’s List,” “Michael Collins,” and “Nell,” would go on to become one of Hollywood’s leading action stars after the success of the 2009 action hit, “Taken.” In it, he played a retired field agent who tracks down and kills the men responsible for his daughter’s kidnapping. Since then, he has made two “Taken” sequels as well as a plethora of big-budget blockbusters like “Clash of the Titans,” “The A-Team,” “Unknown,” “The Grey,” “Non-Stop,” and many more. With “Honest Thief,” the action is scaled back in favor of character development and story exposition but in the end, it amounts to nothing more than a predictable piece of harmless entertainment that will leave your mind soon after the final credits have rolled.

Neeson plays Tom Carter, a retired ex-Marine who robs banks for a living. He is labeled the “In-and-Out Bandit” by the authorities and he has never been caught. When Tom meets Annie (Kate Walsh), the manager of a local storage unit facility, he immediately falls for her and after a year of dating, he wants to come clean about his past. Since he has never spent one dime of the money he stole, he calls the local FBI office and tells them who he is. Naturally, they are hesitant to believe him as they have had many people prank call them over the years, claiming to be the bandit but when he speaks to Agent Sam Baker (Robert Patrick), he sends two of his guys, Agent Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Agent Hall (Anthony Ramos), to his location to check out his story. He tells them how he robbed the banks but they are still reluctant to believe him. That is until they check out his storage unit and discover boxes filled with cash. Tom wants a reduced sentence since all the money he stole is still intact but Nivens gets greedy and decides to steal the money instead. They make their way back to Tom, with the intent of killing him but when their boss, Sam Baker, turns up to speak to Tom himself, Nivens kills Baker and plans to pin the murder on Tom but he manages to escape.

With the police searching the city for Tom, he finally tells Annie what happened. Naturally, she is scared and hesitant to want to be around him, especially given his current predicament but gradually she changes her mind and at Tom’s insistence, agrees to leave town until he sorts everything out. The next day, however, Tom is startled to discover that Annie never left town, instead, she made her way back to the storage facility where she works to retrieve the memory card from the security system that shows Nivens and Hall removing the boxes of cash from Tom’s unit the previous day. Before she can leave, both men turn up and Nivens tries to kill her but she manages to injure him first before he knocks her unconscious. Hall pulls him away and they leave and when Tom arrives on the scene, he takes Annie to the hospital. Afterward, he reaches out to Agent Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan), the partner of Sam Baker, and informs him that Nivens and Hall took his money and killed Baker and tried to frame him for the murder. He is reluctant to believe him at first but Tom hands him the gun that Hall dropped during the shootout and tells him that he has a plan to prove his innocence. After he takes Annie from the hospital, fearful that Nivens might try to kill her, Tom utilizes his Marine skills and puts his plan into motion.

“Honest Thief” is so utterly predictable and transparent, you can easily surmise what is about to transpire and it unfolds as expected. There is absolutely nothing new herein but the cast gives it their all and you find it almost impossible to not have fun while correctly guessing every step of the way. At a spright 68 years of age, Mr. Neeson shows no signs of slowing down and carries off the action scenes with great aplomb. Kate Walsh is charismatic and utterly appealing opposite Mr. Neeson’s contemplative and meditative persona. Jai Courtney has played his fair share of villains throughout his career and here, his pompous and self-absorbed Nivens is so damn unlikeable, you just want to reach into the screen and beat the crap out of him. The action scenes are fine but uninspiring. “Honest Thief” is basically a poor man’s “The Fugitive” without the exciting action and tension that director Andrew Davis infused into that film. “Honest Thief” is instantly enjoyably but utterly forgettable, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, after all, there are worse ways to spend 99 minutes.

 

In Select Theaters Friday, October 16th

 

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James McDonald

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, James is a Movie Critic with 40 years of experience in the film industry as an Award-Winning Filmmaker. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association.