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Max (Pierce Brosnan) has ended his career as a jewel thief on a high note
- pulling off a diamond heist right under the nose of FBI Agent Stan Lloyd
(Woody Harrelson). Max and his long-time girlfriend and partner-in-crime,
Lola (Salma Hayek), have retired to the Bahamas. Now all Lola wants is
to get engaged and enjoy the simple life in paradise - and maybe take up
a hobby or two. Max says he wants to settle down, but he's too restless to have a good time doing nothing.
When Agent Lloyd shows up with information about a priceless diamond that by coincidence is coming to the island on a cruise ship, he accuses Max of planning another caper and warns that this time, he'll be there to bring him down. Lola wants nothing to do with another job, but Max's curiosity is piqued and he can't seem to say no to this kind of opportunity - or can he? The movie wants you to think the job is on, then off as Max turns over the operation to the local kingpin (Don Cheadle), then on again. There's always one more twist, plus the inevitable double-crosses before the dust settles and the sun sets.
If you want to look at the technical problems with the story, there are
a few questions about the preposterous plan and a few holes in the plot
- but this isn't really a "how to" movie where the heist is the
driving factor and planning is done down to the most minute detail. Here,
the key is the gamesmanship that is going on between Max the thief and
Stan the man. They can be friendly chums (while on a fishing excursion),
help each other out (with their respective girl problems), and even turn
to each other in time of trouble (Max moves into Stan's hotel room after
he has a fight with Lola). Their relationship is what makes or breaks this
movie.
There are some laugh out loud funny moments (mostly thanks to Stan) but
there are also long periods of dead zones and story elements that go nowhere
like the series of dinners with "friends" Lola drags home from
the beach - she subjects Max (and us) to this suffering with no rhyme or
reason. They also have this recurring mention of To Catch A Thief - not once, but three times (Note - it's not a good idea to advertise a movie that's a better version of the story you're trying to tell). The pacing and story issues are the fault of the director first and the writer second.
Woody Harrelson seems to be the only one who brings his "A game"
to the table - he's funny, whiny, and cute at all the right times. Pierce
Brosnan goes shirtless (which just shows Bond isn't what he used to be),
but doesn't bring out the personality of the character unless he's matching
wits with the FBI - then he rises up to the acting challenge. Salma brings
her cleavage to the movie and shows a lot of skin, but not a lot of range.
Don Cheadle acts like he took this gig for the trip to the Bahamas (you
can't blame him for that); he brings nothing to his character and it could
have been played by anybody with the same effect (merely a diversion and
time consumption) - but that's also due to the weak material he was given
to work with. The only character that comes across pristine is the island
paradise - you can't watch this movie and not wish you were relaxing on
that gorgeous tropical beach.
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