Rated: M
Written and Directed by: Mark Williams
Produced by: Mark Williams, Myles Nestel, Tai Duncan, Craig Chapman and Jonah Loop
Production Designer: Tom Lisowski
Editor: Michael P Shawver
Music by: Mark Isham
Starring: Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jeffrey Donovan, Jai Courtney, Anthony Ramos, Robert Patrick and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
‘I met a woman.’
Honest Thief is a classic formula that plays-out like a movie I felt like I’d seen before.
Set in Boston (including that Boston accent and typical dirty cops), the In-And-Out Bandit, AKA Tom Carter (Liam Neeson) has been robbing banks without leaving a trace (hence the nickname and yes, he doesn’t like it either) for eight years.
Until he meets Annie (Kate Walsh – the actress from Grey’s Anatomy. She looks nothing like Dr. Addison Montgomery here as Annie and that’s OK. She’s well-cast).
It’s a real meet-cute, setting the tone of the film – a romantic crime drama set to the gravitas of Liam Neeson’s deep-bass voice.
Tom wants to the do the right thing. To build his relationship with Annie on an honest foundation (see the title), and be an, ‘Honest Thief’.
After twelve bank robberies over seven states and nine million in cash, Tom wants to turn himself in.
‘He met a woman,’ Agent Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan) explains.
‘Poor guy,’ replies Agent Baker (Robert Patrick).
The robber-turned-soft romantic overtones of this film are somewhat offset by the humour of this Agent Baker, desperately trying not to be bitter after being left with a dog (instead of a house) after his divorce.
And we get some dirty cop crime thrown in with some explosive action.
Writer and director Mark Williams (A Family Man (2016)) states, “It has the action, the thrills, car chases, guns going off, things exploding. But at the heart of it, it’s a love story, and to me that’s the most important thing.”
So, Honest Thief isn’t one of those shoot-em-up action flicks, or crime thriller.
This is more Tom proving he’s the In-And-Out bandit – an excuse to show some strategy in the film – then after being double-crossed by dirty cops, proving he might be a robber, but he’s no killer.
At one point Tom’s asked, ‘What do you want?’
‘To prove my innocence.’
Because as stated above, he’s met a woman.
It’s just not that exciting.
But the addition of Robert Patrick as Agent Baker (Robert Patrick) and his increasing affection for his fluffy companion, Tassy lifted the tone and added that extra bit of humour.
‘Poor guy.’
Hilarious.
