Rating: C+
Dir: Kris Smith
Star: Nick Elliott, Andy Blithe, Steve Knight, Anja Kick
This is so laid-back as to be positively horizontal. Possibly a little too laid-back for its own good: there were points where I wanted the film to stop meandering in circles and get to the obvious goal. That being the heist of a safety deposit box containing a large quantity of diamonds. Veteran career criminal Paul Canterbury (Elliott) has been tipped off about this, and begins to assemble a team to carry out the heist. His first call is to long-time friend Rick Foster (Blithe), who has recently finished a stretch in prison. They also need a hacker, a getaway driver, some muscle, etc. You know the kind of thing, if you’ve seen this kind of movie before.
And that may be the main problem. You have seen this kind of movie before, such as the scene where one of the group complains about the code-name he has been given. Here, it’s dwarves, and nobody wants to be Dopey. I will admit to being amused that he demands to be called Thorin Oakenshield instead. But it’s all rather over familiar, and executed at a sedate pace – albeit one befitting characters who almost all seem middle aged or older, even the token woman, Adriana (Kick), the daughter of a now-deceased mate. I’m not dissimilarly aged myself, so can relate. But when it comes to my movies, I want something with a bit more pep, rather than resembling me getting up after a nice mid-afternoon nap.
You’ll therefore need to be patient: we don’t get to the heist until almost ninety minutes in. The good news is, I did enjoy the characters a lot. They’re likeable and down-to-earth, which makes spending time with them a pleasure, even when not much is happening towards the heist. I would have brought in their nemesis earlier, to give us a more specific reason to root for our heroes, and provide the film with conflict that is notably lacking. There are some obvious plot holes too. For instance, you capture someone red-handed in commission of a robbery (top), and let them hold onto the loot? Yet I was mostly impressed by the technical aspects. While clearly low-budget, the limited resources are rarely obvious. Hooray for audible dialogue!
It does suffer from the common flaw of indies, where the makers are more in love with their creation than it deserves. While I can’t blame them for that affection, a punchier edit of this, cropping 25-30 minutes out would work better. However, you can tell this was a project of passion, and as far as I’m concerned, that allows for many flaws to be forgiven – although naturally not forgotten. You need to go in expecting something like a low-key, geezer, microbudget version of a Guy Ritchie movie. Enjoy the ride, gazing out the window as the landscape unfolds on the way to your eventual destination.
The film is available to rent or buy now, through the Aturn Films website.