Director: Mark Williams
Writer: Mark Williams, Steve Allrich (Screenplay)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney, Jeffrey Donovan, Anthony Ramos, RObet Patrick
Plot: Wanting to lead an honest life, a notorious bank robber turns himself in, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents.
Tagline –Never Steal a Man’s Second Chance
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Honest Thief starts as we see Tom (Neeson) completing his robberies, with the numbers rising, with his reputation as the ‘In Out Bandit’ spreading, this changes when he meets Annie (Walsh) and he looks to walk away from the life.
When Tom wants to come clean, he contacts the FBI, with Agent Sam Baker (Patrick), who has been listening to stories for years, with people confessing to being the thief, only for his two agents Nivens (Courtney) and Hall (Ramos) look to take advantage of the situation.
Thoughts on Honest Thief
Characters – Tom is a former marine turned famous solo thief, with 9 years of robberies under his belt, he has left the game though, looking to come clean for his actions, to start a new life with Annie, but when the FBI don’t play as fair as he imagined, he must prove he is only a robber not a murderer. Annie is a divorced woman running a storage operation, looking to rebuild her life, she knows nothing of the former life Tom has, but knows the two can spend their lives together. Agent Nivens is assigned to investigate the claim Tom is making, turning into his own opportunity to make money, going too far, on the levels where he will need to make sure he cleans up his own mess. Agent Meyers is one of the senior agents that passes on the claim, believing it isn’t real, like many of the other claims, he does start to investigate when things start to get out of control.
Performances – Liam Neeson continues to give us the aging action star, while he does bring the grounded side to the role, many action stars struggle with. Kate Walsh as the love interest works well through the film, Jai Courtney as the villainous agent brings the most out of a plain character, which is could be said for most of the FBI agents, however hard the actors try to make more out of them.
Story – The story here follows a thief that decides he wants to come clean after falling in love, only for him to discover the FBI agents he wants to confess to, are not as honest as he believes they could be. When it comes to the action storylines that are coming out, this does mix the idea of the getting out of the game one, with never knowing who to trust in authority, which helps the quiet humble man of Tom, needing to show a darker side to survive the cat-n-mouse like games with the different FBI agents, some are good, some are not. We don’t get the full brand-new action film, but it is one story that the stars can pull off with ease for pure entertainment.
Action – The action in the film comes from chases and fight scenes, with the fight scenes struggling with the fast cuts, while the chases are everything we have seen before.
Settings – The film uses the city settings to show how capable of disappearing Tom can be, with his ability to scout every possible escape route.
Scene of the Movie – Meyers dog.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The FBI agents could have had a little bit more about them, as the seem plain for the world we are in.
Final Thoughts – Honest Thief is a fun, enjoyable action thriller, one that we know Liam Neeson can deliver in with ease, it is everything you would expect it to be, with the cute dog.
Signature Entertainment presents Honest Thief In Cinemas Nationwide 23rd October also Experience it in IMAX
