I expected a lot out of this movie - mostly because it had really good reviews from what I had seen. I can't say that I was completely disappointed, but it didn't really live up to its billing either. It wasn't exactly a bank heist, but it wasn't exactly as advertised, either.
The actors that you'd expect to do something wonderful (Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster) didn't. They were okay, just not great. The others weren't notable at all. I think that the movie tried to do too much. Had it cut out the extra pieces unrelated to the heist (and probably 30 minutes of its length), it probably would have been a lot better.
In the movie, a bank robbery - the perfect bank robbery - turns into a hostage situation.
A man (Clive Owen) starts telling the tale of how he planned the perfect robbery. His team of thieves entered the bank, and they started to execute their plan. They work deliberately, and they work with the utmost precision to pull off their plan exactly as they intended it to work. Beyond that, if the plan is so perfect, why is the leader telling his story from a cell? Did he get caught? It's all a bit puzzling, really.
And so the story unfolds. A detective (Washington) is assigned to the robbery, as it becomes clear that there are hostages inside the bank. Next, an unusual person (Foster) shows up at the bank, and she is working for someone high up on the city's power chart, but no one knows who she is or what she's doing there. It seems that there is an item in the bank that she wants to get without anyone getting word of it.
Meanwhile, the thieves don't seem to be in a hurry to get out, and they are acting as if they will get their demands - but who in the world thinks that they will actually get a plane? And why is their leader telling the story from a cell if the heist was so perfect?
It's not a bad tale, it just goes on too long. The ending is quite good, it just takes far too long to get there.
Rated R for language and some violent images.
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