Review: After the Sunset


Jewel thieves (and lovers) Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek dupe FBI agent Woody Harrelson, ridiculing him on their latest venture before escaping to an island paradise retirement. Things seem to be going fine until Harrelson shows up, pretty much goading Brosnan into doing one last job (a jewel located on a cruise ship) so he can finally nail him. Hayek, who has adapted quite easily to retirement, disapproves. Teaming up with Harrelson is local cop Naomie Harris. Don Cheadle is surprisingly effective as an eccentric local kingpin (originally from Detroit) who wants Brosnan to steal the priceless stone for him (His hilarious speech concerning the Mamas & Papas enters Christopher Walken territory).



Likeable 2005 Brett Ratner (“Red Dragon”, “Rush Hour”, “Tower Heist”) caper flick is essentially a modern version of Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief”, one of his more underrated, stylish and breezy films. Though it takes a long while to get anywhere, with cool-as-ice 007 Brosnan and sexy Hayek (who is absolutely stunning here, spending most of the first half in a bikini), I can’t say I was ever bored. All of the performances are top-notch- Hayek and Brosnan sizzle- admittedly not always together, but sizzle is sizzle. Harrelson is very funny, and I loved Harris’ Jamaican accent, mon! (Funny given I’ve hated it in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. Even weirder that her mum actually is of West Indies descent), but the plot is a tad silly at times, and not exactly earth-shattering.



At any rate, it’s better than Brosnan’s flat “Thomas Crown Affair” remake. Very pleasant to look at, too, thanks to the Bahamas scenery lensed here by Dante Spinotti (“Last of the Mohicans”, “Heat”). The screenplay by TV writer Paul Zbyszewski and Craig Rosenberg (“The Uninvited”, writer-director of the Aussie flick “Hotel de Love”) thankfully doesn’t take itself very seriously, and you could do a lot worse than spending a couple of hours with James Bond and a bikini clad Salma Hayek on a beach.



Rating: C+

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