Review: Honest Thief

Liam Neeson stars as a roguish ex-Marine and proficient bank robber of several years, with a proficiency in explosive devices in particular. Unfortunately, he has fallen in love with Kate Walsh, and he feels the need to end his criminality. He decides to call up the FBI and reveal that he’s the elusive ‘In and Out Bandit’ and would like to turn himself in and hand over the money he has acquired over the years…which he has kept locked up in a storage locker. He’ll gladly accept the recommended prison sentence, though he’s hoping honesty will get him enough of a reduced sentence that he can go back to his life with Walsh (Who knows nothing about his past, so I’m not sure how that was expected to work). Jaded and glib FBI agent Jeffrey Donovan is completely disinterested, handing the job over to younger agents Jai Courtney and Anthony Ramos. Courtney and Ramos are bent, decide to take the loot for themselves, framing Neeson for murder in the process. With Donovan now leading the pursuit of Neeson, the latter has to go on the run while also quickly explaining his criminal past to a completely unprepared Walsh. Awkward. Meanwhile, Donovan starts to get an inkling that the situation is a little more complicated than it appeared to him. Robert Patrick plays the resident grizzled veteran agent who walks in on something he’s not prepared for.

 

OK, so this one turned out better than expected. Perfectly watchable, if perfectly unremarkable 2020 Liam Neeson genre outing from director Mark Williams (mostly known as a TV producer) and co-writer Steve Allrich (“Bad Karma” with Ray Liotta and Dominic Purcell) won’t linger very long in the memory but gets the job done. Just. How’s that for a faint praise opener? The film seemed to land with more of a thud than other Neeson films of recent years, but honestly…it’s at least better than “Cold Pursuit”, which somehow botched a perfect opportunity for a “Mr. Plow” goes “Death Wish” film.

 

The chief strength here is in the performances. Neeson is Neeson, at this stage you know what you’re gonna get from him. Brooding, but somewhat charming and always sympathetic. Solid. Kate Walsh, a familiar face from mostly TV has been doing good work for years now on shows I’ve only intermittently subjected myself to. She’s immediately good here in a not especially well-written role, and shares good chemistry with Neeson. She’s really likeable on screen, I’d like to see her do more movies or at least TV shows that I might regularly watch. I’m not normally a Jeffrey Donovan fan, but he’s well cast as a glib, initially disinterested agent who eventually gets involved in the action. Although he’s not in the film terribly long, the criminally underrated Robert Patrick is as always perfectly solid as a grizzled veteran FBI agent. Aussie-born Jai Courtney has perhaps his best role to date, and really delivers quite a scummy performance as one of the bent feds. He brings quite a physical presence and intimidation to the role.

 

It’s a bit corny at times (especially the set-up) and pretty formulaic overall, but I thought it was nice to not have Neeson in vigilante mode. Director Williams and the camera crew shoot things with more stability than say the “Taken” films. It’s quite a nice-looking film, actually. There’s not as much action as in other Neeson films of this period, but I’m fine with that when everybody here is such good company.

 

An entertaining, probably underrated Liam Neeson vehicle. The performances are all good, it’s well-directed, but it’s hardly a world-beater. It passes the time more than adequately, though.  

 

Rating: B-