DEN OF THIEVES – Review

Right now at the multiplex playground a spirited game of “cops and robbers” is just beginning, probably right next to that game of “war on horseback” we previously discussed. Yes, this is a crime thriller, but as the game’s title indicates , both teams on opposite sides of the law pretty much gets equal screen time. The best of this film genre often puts the audience in a moral conflict. Like many crime flicks that involve an intricately plotted caper (or when the main crew has to do “one last job” as in the recent BABY DRIVER). we follow all the planning stages, so we can’t help ourselves from wanting to see if thing really goes off “without a hitch” (of course, unforseen complications always arise). But then these are criminals, so we are compelled to root for “the 5-0” to get wind off their activities and thwart the heist and getaway. Muddying the waters even more, how do we feel when those law enforcers become law breakers on the job, when the criminals seem to have a stronger moral code? That’s a lot to ponder after you enter this DEN OF THIEVES.

To paraphrase the opening title of a classic TV cop show, “This is the city, Los Angeles, California”, and according to the on-screen statistics, it’s the bank robbery capital of the world. We follow an armored money-transport truck as it pulls into the lot of an all-night eatery in the pre-dawn hours. As the drivers return with their coffee to go, masked men wearing protective armor and toting high-powered assault weapons emerge. Soon the bullets are flying, delaying the criminals’ plans for a quick “grab and go”. Suddenly squad cars arrive, but they’re no match for the crew’s firepower. But instead of unloading the truck, the team splits up, and the armored truck is driven to a garage run by Merrimen’s (Pablo Schreiber) gang. A few hours later, the sun rises on the crime scene, and officers of the sheriff’s department, led by the coarse, hung over Nick Flanagan (Gerard Butler) are combining through the carnage. Back at the station, they’re surprised to learn that the stolen truck was empty, having already made its delivery. Combining the files, they learn that Merrimen is eight months fresh out of prison. Nick’s got a hunch, but rather than confront him directly they decide to lean on a recent contact of Merrimen, a low-level car thief turned bartender named Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.). Nick’s squad scoops up Donnie and takes him to a seedy motel room for an “off the record” interrogation. Donnie insists that he’s just a “wheelman” and is kept in the dark. A flashback reveals that the truck heist is part of Merrimen’s master plan of stealing from the “bank of banks’, the Federal Reserve. Can he and his crew pull off this “big score” or will the “loose cannon” Nick and his men “play dirty” and stop them?

Commanding most of the film’s running time as the commander of the cops, is Butler in full “bad boy” mode, cursing, boozing, brawling, chain-smoking, scowling, and growling. Full of macho swagger, he’s a more verbose variation of Dirty Harry, but Butler gives us the tragic, self-destructive guy beneath the down and dirty law man. His excesses may help him on the job, but they derail any attempts at a stable family life. Speaking of family, Schreiber is the stern father figure to a very hardened crew of criminal. With an icy stare, he is a force that is not to be questioned as he tasks his men with their duties. He’s quick to discipline, while still joining his men in recreation, even helping with a prank. The film provides another impressive role for a second generation actor, Jackson as the conflicted Donnie. His somewhat easy-going manner masks a great intelligence as he must react quickly in his tightrope walk between his crew and the police. After his breakthrough role as his pop in STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, Jackson is proving to be an engaging screen presence with his follow-up in the quirky INGRID GOES WEST, and this complex character. And don’t be deceived by the marketing. Though he’s featured prominently in the movie poster (much larger than the others), rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is a supporting player as Merrimen’s right hand man. But he’s a compelling presence, especially in the movie’s most enjoyable scene as he is the most intimating papa any suitor could encounter.

Exploding right “out of the gate” with its armored truck shoot-out, director and co-writer Christian Gudegast shows his hand early. The film immediately sets itself up as a off-spring (maybe a son or grandson) of Michael Mann’s iconic HEAT, an aspiration it fails to achieve. This time we get little of the criminal kingpin’s personal life, but there’s way too much time devoted to the crumbling marriage of his nemesis. Just as the OCEAN’S ELEVEN-style caper seems to be kicking into high gear, the plot stops dead in its tracks to show Nick visiting one of his daughters at her school during recess, separated by a fence (so much for subtlety). This adds 15 or so minutes of fat to what should be a lean, mean movie machine. The execution of the big heist is far too complicated, with way too many moving parts (guard uniforms, sewers, and, no kidding, Chinese food delivery). It all culminates in a long protracted shoot-out during a traffic tie-up. Yes, gunfire and gridlock. The flicks then makes a sharp left right into a final (for real this time) sequence that evokes THE USUAL SUSPECTS. The script needed a couple more passes or maybe a much tighter, unforgiving edit. This might have transformed the end result into the taunt gritty cops and crime thriller, rather than the “not as clever as it thinks it is” start and stop detour that is the road to the DEN OF THIEVES.

3 Out of 5