Concept of a man and a woman on the opposite sides of law playing cat and mouse games while trying to play doctor at the same time isn’t exactly unknown in cinema. Hollywood used it more than half a century ago with Norman Jewison’s slightly overrated heist film The Thomas Crown Affair, remade with great success in 1999. The latter, produced by MGM, became subject of typically 1990s Hollywood practice of launching competing blockbuster with similar subject when Fox released Entrapment, 1999 film directed by Jon Amiel.
The plot begins with priceless Rembrandt painting being stolen from office building in New York. Virginia “Gin” Baker (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) is young and attractive insurance investigator who takes the case and soon becomes convinced that the perpetrator is Robert “Mac” MacDougal (played by Sean Connery), old professional criminal who built reputation on spectacular heists very much like that one. Mac, however, denies responsibility claiming that he has retired from his business long time ago. Gin, however, decides to pose as criminal herself and asks Mac to help her steal valuable Chinese mask. Mac very reluctantly agrees and takes part in preparations, while the doubts about his partner mix with romantic feelings towards attractive woman. The theft of the mask is just a test for the even more spectacular heist which is to take place in bank headquarters situated in Kuala Lumpur skyscraper. At the end, it turns out that almost anyone involved in it had secret agendas.
Inevitable comparisons between Entrapment and The Thomas Crown Affair would point to the former having much stronger cast. Legendary Sean Connery, even in its latter years, is much more charismatic than Pierce Brosnan, just like Catherine Zeta-Jones at the height of her popularity confidently displays her attributes of sex symbols, especially in memorable scenes when she uses black costume in tradition of Irma Vep. Entrapment also features a bit more action scenes. However, this doesn’t prevent Entrapment ending much much weaker. The main reason is typically late 1990s Hollywood script which was originated by Ronald Bass as seven words concept. Its development led to plot that is often illogical, details that insult viewers’ intelligence or reveal that authors didn’t learn basic mathematics in school. The final plot twist at the end isn’t surprising at all. Entrapment, on the other hand, features interesting cast, including fascinating Maury Chaykin who plays Jabba the Hut-like character. The worst thing about Entrapment is lack of bravery among authors. While they play with romantic tensions between protagonists despite May-December nature of their potential relationship, they fail to explore those tensions towards their conclusions. The result is a film that, despite couple of interesting scenes and attractive stars, soon evaporates from memory.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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