Thick as Thieves (2009)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The Code, or Thick As Thieves as it's known on DVD in some regions, is pretty much just Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas strutting their way through a B-grade, R-rated Ocean's Eleven. It's second tier stuff, but it has one hell of a cast and enough serpentine twists and betrayals to keep the viewer interested. Freeman plays a slick master burglar, recruiting Banderas' younger thief to pull off one of those 'impossible' heists that requires all kinds of over elaborate planning and stylish execution. This is all in order to pay an outstanding debt to the Russian mob in the form of dangerous Rade Serbedzija, aka Boris the Blade, aka Boris the Bullet Dodger, who has a few surprising secrets of his own. All of them are also hounded by a classically dogged detective (Robert Forster, intensely excellent) and his rookie partner, who of all people is played by Tom Hardy in a role so small and random I'd love to hear the tale behind his casting. There's also an obligatory love interest for Antonio, played by leggy Radha Mitchell. Now, it's all mostly as pedestrian as it sounds, except for a few garnishing touches that elevate it just enough that it sticks in your memory. The master thief. The Ahab-esque cop. The vicious Eastern European gangster. The love triangle. Backstabbing. These are all ancient archetypes that have been done quite literally to death, and they're all present and accounted for here, but there's a few moments that genuinely surprise and break feee of that somewhat. Revelations involving the Russian who isn't what he appears to be, a third act twist that feels welcome, and snares of dialogue that snap our attention amidst the clichés. For what it is, it does its job well enough, and a few times shows actual inspiration. Not bad at all.

I really couldn't find any glimpse of originality, innovation or indeed motivation in this movie. The plot is a veteran thief who meets a young and reckless rookie thief, sound similar to anything you know – that's because it is! Apart from its complete lack of inspiration comes very unconvincing acting from two fairly decent actors, however, Morgan Freemans salutary knowledge fails to salvage and I found that Antonio's by doing this movie is typecasting himself to the role – it even plays Hispanic type music in the love scene. I can't say much more about this movie as it's just dull, in 10-20 years it'll be like watching one of those bad 'money spinners' from the 80's. My advice – stay well clear, even if you get to see this for free, you'd be more interested doing nothing!

Rarely anybody these days makes the heist movies anymore. Apparently, the are considered old-fashioned and the gurus of the film industry think they know what sells. And, now finally we have this lame cliché of just about every heist movie ever made. The twists that are barely twisted are utterly predictable, the glamorous atmosphere lacks any glamour whatsoever. What is Morgan Freemen doing in this B-movie? And Antonio Benderas again seems like fish out of water in American movie. He was never able to transfer his passionate flair overseas. And that just about sums it up. Completely uninspired, routine effort, that everybody involved did half-asleep. The same condition that I was in most of the movie.

While I can understand why talented actor Robert Forster (who looks somewhat ghastly here, like he's coming off a major illness) is appearing in a direct-to-video movie (at least in North America), I don't understand why Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas are doing in a direct-to-video movie. Surely they are still getting calls from major studios? Did they really need the money? Anyway, they bring their natural charisma to this movie... but not much more. Freeman doesn't seem to be trying very hard in his performance, and Banderas doesn't watch his accent, making some of the words he says hard to figure out.The production values are mostly very decent, a trademark of direct-to-video kings Millennium/Nu Image Films. Although this set-in-New-York film was partially filmed in Bulgaria, it doesn't show. The only flaw in the production values was the CGI used in the subway sequences. It looks pretty cheesy.The heist central to this movie has some tension, but I found it hard to get involved. For one thing, many of the steps the Freeman and Banderas characters use to foil the various security measures are never fully explained to the audience. Even worse is that it's implied that this heist was planned in JUST A FEW DAYS! Seeming all these security measures they have to conquer, it would really take weeks, even months to plan! The movie is never really boring, but in the first half of the movie you can kind of guess what will happen in the next scene. There are twists towards the end, but they are expected, as in other caper movies like this one. Such twists happening are no longer a surprise. Plus, as they start to unfold, you will start to guess just what new twists will happen.Wait until it comes on cable... on a rainy day... when there's absolutely nothing else to do or watch.