Honest Thief

“If they are willing to kill another agent... what are they capable of doing to you and me?”

Filmology Rating: 2 out of 4

Honest Thief stars Liam Neeson in another "Liam Neeson with a gun" movie. It was directed by Mark Williams.

Wanting to lead an honest life, a notorious bank robber, Tom (Neeson), turns himself in only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents who want the money Tom has been collecting for years for themselves.

I knew this was going to suck, but I wanted to watch it because I was in the mood for a dumb Liam Neeson thriller where he hobbles around for ninety minutes. Something on the level of 'Non-Stop' and 'The Commuter.' However, that's not what I got. It's more like a drama than anything. It's not even about robbing banks. The film actually takes place after Tom has retired from robbing banks and he wants to settle down with this girl he met. So he wants to turn himself in and come clean with his past, but two FBI agents plan to take Tom's money for themselves and kill Tom. So Tom must go on this lengthy journey to prove the FBI agents are crooks.

You can tell someone watched 'Dragged Across Concrete' and went, "Yeah, I can do that." The idea of two underpaid cops turning into criminals was done by S. Craig Zahler a few years ago. However, Zahler gives you plenty of reason to understand why those cops made that decision.

In 'Honest Thief,' two FBI agents we just met and know nothing about find Tom's money in a storage unit and decide to take it for themselves and the film expects you to understand their decision by having a two minute dialogue about the system screwing them over.

I'm pretty sure as FBI agents, they get paid fine. One of them even has a sports car and a large house and he's single. He doesn't need money! In 'Dragged Across Concrete,' there is so much time dedicated to informing the audience of these two beat cops' lives. So that when they decide to become thieves, you understand.

'Honest Thief' doesn't really have anything clever about it either. The most intelligent thing in the film is the use of security cameras. If this film came out in the 90s, it probably would have been smart.

So Jai Courtney is also in this film and I always got him confused with Sam Worthington for some reason. I think it's because they were both in big blockbusters at one point where they played the white, uninteresting and boring protagonist. I actually didn't mind Jai Courtney in this film though.

Liam Neeson has been doing these films since 'Taken' and I think it's time he stops doing them. I never saw 'Ordinary Love' this year, but I hear it's a suitable film for him. I just don't buy Liam Neeson as an action star anymore.

This is so specific, but this film falls into the cliche that the Jason Bourne franchise made popular, which is wearing a baseball cap as a disguise in public because you're wanted. I hate that trope so much. Like, who isn't going to recognize you because you're wearing a hat? It's so tired and dumb.

This film has no excitement, no real climax or sense of urgency and you just don't care about anything that's happening because you already know that the film will end with Liam Neeson winning.

Rating: Skip It