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After some time this is me getting back into the groove of writing and hopefully for longer this year because after January its been a rough 2026 but anyways, I am not even going to sugar coat this one because the trailer looked generic as shit and I was not expecting much from an early February release, Im not so sure if people were expecting the next big heist banger just because Chris Hemsworth and Mar Ruffalo were on a movie together , but I had this gut feeling it was going to be something different than the noise people were making online, it is funny how life works because I was just complaining about how every movie feels the same lately I look back and on January most of reviews were 7 or less and here we are again, I seriously jump into this movie hoping for a spark to make me care about it, the director is Bart Layton who I bet not many remmeber but he has participated in some projects that made it to the social media meta like "The Tinder Swindler" and "The Deepest Breath", it is a weird vibe to watch a movie that is suppose to combine multiple things you like and still not enjoying it that much like car chase, heist and Halle Berry, but I have to keep it real with myself about whether the movie actually hits hard or just sits there, this one honestly left everything on the trailer for the most part, at the end after watching the movie I kept thinking about how many times I have been let down by big names in small movies, look I just wanted a solid story to get me through an afternoon without feeling like I wasted my time and have to say this kinda did but not really, reason why I only gave it a 7.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32430579/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
The movie builds the story of a thief played by Hemsworth and the detective played by Mark Ruffalo who is trying to track him down along the 101 highway in Los Angeles, I was actually surprised because the movie is not what the marketing presented at all since Hemsworth plays this very awkward and shy dude instead of a typical badass, he is basically this guy Lou who is so obsessed with his rules that he barely looks people in the eye and it is a dope change of pace to see him not just using his muscles to solve every problem, the production quality is solid and the music is very cool and heavy which helps build a decent atmosphere for the city at night, many times felt very NFS, I am telling you the way they shot the coast and the traffic makes LA look like its own character in the story. Ruffalo plays this detective named Lou Lubesnick who is the only one smart enough to see the pattern in these jewel robberies, he is doing that tired cop thing he does so well where he looks like he has not slept in three years and lives off coffee and regret plus been over weight lol, it is a total vibe that works for this kind of cat and mouse game, even though we have seen this setup a million times before in other movies, the way these two characters are positioned as mirrors of each other is actually pretty smart, they are both loners who are better at their jobs than they are at being human beings and that is where the movie finds its sweet spot when it is not busy showing us maps and highway signs, over all its the awkwardness of both characters play so well that makes it worth watching, at least a good one time watch.
Now here is the thing, the movie starts with a completely new scene but then takes a while to get where it is going and some characters were not fully develop like Money played by Nick Nolte who could had more screen time after all he was suppose to be the guy pulling the strings but was more like someone outsourcing Davis services and not really partners, been over two hours long and while I was not bored I couldnt help wanting more action and shooting to happen, it felt clunk but the cast still made it watchable because Barry Keoghan brings that chaotic energy he is known for, you really get to hate the guy, then there is Halle Berry plays an undervalued insurance worker which adds a human layer to the plot, I though there was going to be some sex scenes honestly lol but she was hot as usual, Keoghan is playing this guy who is just a total loose cannon and every time he is on screen you feel like something is going to explode or someone is going to get punched in the face, he is a total a**hole in this role but in a way that makes you want to see what he does next, Halle Berry is doing her thing as the smart person in the room that the men keep ignoring, it is a bit of a waste of her talent if I am being honest but she still manages to make those scenes feel important, the problem is that the middle of the movie just drags hard specially during some romance scenes, they spend so much time on the technical side of the robberies that you start to lose track of why you should care about the people doing them, it is like the director wanted to make a documentary about jewel heists instead of a thriller or make the planing be the aja moment something like "Oceans Eleven" type of plans and that is where the pacing starts to feel all over the place and messy, I was sitting there tempted to push the forward button a few times wondering when we were going to get back to the actual chase, it is a damn shame because the first forty minutes were actually pretty tight.
When thinking back on this movie I feel disappointed because the movie is very flat and lacks a unique style or flare to make it stand out from something like Drive or Heat, the director comes from a documentary background and you can tell he is still learning how to handle big car chases and long fast action scenes, they kill it with the cast because it was way more than what the script deserve, he knows how to frame a shot and make it look pretty, but he does not know how to make your heart race when the bullets start flying, it is not a bad movie by any means but the potential was there for it to be so much better than what we got, it is basically a mid tier crime movie that is trying to be a masterpiece but settles for being just okay, I am telling you that if you go in expecting Heat you are going to be pissed off but if you go in wanting a slow burn about a guy who really likes diamonds and the cop who hates him then you might find something to like, the dialogue is a bit hit or miss too because sometimes it sounds like actual people talking and other times it sounds like someone reading a crime novel out loud, it is that kind of movie that becomes predictable and since the cast is great and you have seen them do great things I was like this would so much better if this or that, you start creating the scene on your head as it goes, it felt like they were trying too hard to be cool instead of just letting the story breathe and be its own thing, I wanted more of that gritty LA feel and less of the shiny polished look they went with for most of the scenes.
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