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Den of Thieves (2018), R, ★★★


When going into a heist thriller, I try to temper my expectations down a notch because this is one of my favorite genres. I think the ultimate masterpiece that might get a GREAT SELECTION essay in the future is the 1995 Michael Mann movie, Heat, with legendary actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino facing off. It was a tense stand-off between criminals and cops especially in a masterful heist sequence that I think gets overlooked. But, I digress. I think director Christian Gudegast has seen this movie a little too many times to get another cinematic similar heist film with similar tools. However, I cannot lie. It was an entertaining time watching this B-level heist thriller.

The movies sets in Los Angeles as a team of robbers led by Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) attacks the guards and break into the armored truck. However, one of the robbers, Donnie (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), kills the first guard and the police arrives engaging them in a shootout. Unfortunately, the robbers escape with the truck. In the morning, Detective Nick "Big Nick" O'Brien (Gerard Butler) goes to investigate the crime scene as he has been pursuing them for a while and Merrimen has been holding a grudge against Nick because he killed one of his friends.

Nick brings Donnie to a house where a gang of officers is interrogating him. Donnie is an impressive getaway driver according to Merrimen. However, we learn, in a flashback, they are intending to rob the Federal Reserve of $30 million in unmarked bills. Donnie again gets reprimanded by Merrimen and his right-hand man, Levi (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) to make sure he has not told Nick about their plans. Donnie assures that he has not told them. However, the heist is still on.


This is basically a blueprint of the movie, Heat. However, the movie is done with craft even though it falls short of character development and narrative structure. The movie lacks gravitas between Butler and Schreiber because there is no tension between cop and criminal. However, the one standout is O'Shea Jackson Jr. as he gives the strongest performance of the bunch as he is now on a roll with meaty roles from Straight Outta Compton and the underrated Ingrid Goes West. He is very good. But, in terms of craft in action sequences and heist planning, the movie works and it is enough to recommend. I was solely impressed by the choreography as the movie is loud, exciting and violent and you cannot turn your eyes away from the main plot.

I will say that the main problem is a family subplot between Nick and his wife that felt unnecessary and irrelevant to the tone of the movie that felt like a Lifetime movie. It is basically formulaic fluff to add depth to Butler's character. The movie could have shaved off about 10-15 minutes off from its family subplot to solely focus on the story at hand. Look, there are things wrong with this movie and for what it is in terms of second-tier heist thrillers, this is a decent January movie that is better than you can expect even with a good twist ending.

***


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