Honest Thief

Honest Thief
Starring Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney, Jeffrey Donovan
Directed by Mark Williams

Liam Neeson receives a call from his agent, and I can imagine it goes something like this:
Liam: "Do you have another movie for me?"
Agent: "Yes, and it's phenomenal!  You see -"
Liam: (Interrupting) "Let me guess, I'm a gruff but lovable older man with a particular set of skills."
Agent: "Um...yeah..."
Liam: "And I have to fight a bunch of crooked cops or FBI agents to try and clear my name from a crime I didn't commit."
Agent: "Did you already get the script?"
Liam: "Yes, and it's literally only one page.  But since I got nothing going on, I guess I'll do it."

Tom Carter (Liam Neeson) is a former Marine who's spent the last several years breaking into several banks and stealing nine million dollars, earning himself the nickname "The In-and-Out Bandit."  One year ago, however, this all changes when he meets Annie (Kate Walsh), and falls head over heels in love with her.  One year later they're still together, and Tom hasn't robbed a bank since, and in fact plans to turn himself in.  However, once he calls FBI agents Baker (Robert Patrick) and Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan), they don't believe him because of all the other people claiming to be the bandit.  They send underlings Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos), who in fact collaborate that Tom is indeed the Bandit, but instead of turning him in, they decide to keep the money for themselves and eliminate Tom from the picture, but Tom proves himself more effective and manages to escape, despite another man dying at the hands of Nivens.  Tom goes on the run as he tries to clear his name, all the while evading the FBI that's hot on his heels, protecting Annie from the crooked Nivens, and hatching a plan to catch Nivens in the act before its too late.

I have to hand it to Liam Neeson - the man is a physical powerhouse.  At 68, he's performing like he's in his 20s, and despite his current string of like-minded films (the "Taken" series, "Non-Stop," "The Commuter," "Cold Pursuit," "The Grey," "Run All Night," "A Walk Among the Tombstones," "Unknown"), he still gives it his all and doesn't phone it in, not even with "Honest Thief," which was filmed in 2018 so it's before "Cold Pursuit," where he claimed he wasn't doing these types of films anymore, so he wasn't technically lying.  Still, in the pantheon of Neeson action thrillers, "Honest Thief" falls somewhere near the bottom - not because it's badly done, but it's bland, boring, predictable, and full of every type of crooked cop film cliche you can imagine all while not giving any character development or even any truly exciting action set pieces.

For this round, Neeson plays a former Marine and expert bank robber (although he technically never "robbed" people, he just blew up safes to take money without hurting anyone) who decides to give it all up because he falls in love (women will be the downfall of mankind...I kid!) and wants to live a clean life in prison.  Too bad the keystone cops he calls don't believe him, which to me seems kinda suspect as in the fact that I thought no matter what, FBI agents act on any calls made to them, especially one saying he was the actual bandit.  Yes, you always get a bunch of people calling in saying they're the bad guy for attention, but to just laugh him off and not even check up on him seems very mishandled. 

So they bring in the lesser-appreciated agents who are of your traditional breed - overworked and underpaid, as all crooked cops in films like this are.  When faced with taking nine million dollars and running or doing the right thing, of course they pick the wrong thing, leading to the traditional good cop-bad cop routine between the two.  Nivens is indeed the bad cop, who has no problems committing murder, assault, attempted murder, and everything in-between to keep the money, while Hall is a family man who wanted to do better for his family but grows a conscious during the resulting turmoil.  Of course it all comes to blows in the most traditional way possible, with every loose end being neatly tied up in a nice little Neeson-delivered bow.

The film hits every universal note for this type of genre, and doesn't deviate from its path in any way, shape, or form.  It's highly forgettable, especially considering the other action films Neeson has helmed.  Apart from Neeson's performance, everyone else is severely lackluster - Kate Walsh feels more like Neeson's daughter than love interest.  Jai Courtney has all the trappings of the typical crooked cop villain with no moral conscious all of a sudden.  Anthony Ramos is underused and also adheres to the tropes of a good cop who makes one bad decision and has to try to rectify that.  Jeffrey Donovan is the generic commanding officer who is skeptical of his agents.  Everyone is so one-note it's no wonder why people will forget this film quickly.

To top it all off, the action itself isn't anywhere near as exciting.  A few shoot-outs, car chases, and fistfights ensue, and even these are so carefully choreographed to follow the simple method they're easy to forget as well.  Again, it's not to say "Honest Thief" was bad - it's just bland.

Returning to the roots that's made him a new type of action star, Liam Neeson gives some much-needed pedigree to "Honest Thief," even if the rest of the film is bland, typical, and lacking any exciting motivation to exist.

The Score: C