You won't be disappointed!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The acting in this movie is really good.

The first 10 minutes of this film are probably the strongest where we witness a fairly imaginative escape from Pierce Brosnan and the rather elaborate way that Brosnan takes control of an FBI vehicle (I'm still on the fence as to the plausibility of taking control of a vehicle by scanning the VIN number, but it was fun to watch so I let it slide). This scene actually reminded me of the scene with the BMW 7 Series in Tomorrow Never Dies. The observant amongst us will spot some well-known cameos in the opening minutes including a 'blink and you'll miss it' sighting of Ed Norton and more obviously Shaquille O'Neal. Sadly, despite its impressive opening this film never really shone for me and here's why....Let's start with Woody Harrelson's character Lloyd; at the start of the film he's portrayed as a smart and hard assed FBI agent, but then later when he meets up with Max (Pierce Brosnan) and Lola (Salma Hayek) he seems to have turned from bad-ass no nonsense FBI agent into Johnny English - him falling about drunk and constantly allowing Max and Lola to get the upper-hand. Yes we learn later that Lloyd was playing Max all along, but personally I think it would have been better just to play this as a straight cat and mouse thriller between Lloyd and Max and I'm almost certain it would have made it more exciting. Seeing Lloyd and Max being all buddy-buddy and goofing around sometimes made me question whether I was watching a 'heist pardoy' or a serious heist film and even when the film ended I still wasn't sure of the answer... In respect of Brosnan's character he also has a clichéd 'one last job' storyline that never went anywhere till the very end and was an utter bore for the first 60 minutes. Then you have wifey Lola trying to talk him out of it and to just enjoy their retirement. Yawn!!!! It didn't help that Hayek and Brosnan probably shared some of the worst on-screen chemistry that I've seen between an actor and an actress.The film also turns into a soft core porn film at times which must have been a vain attempt to try and stop the audience from nodding off (I'll admit it worked for me with all the scenes with Salma Hayek, but that's because she's gorgeous).There are some twists and turns later in the film although the impact of the one involving Harrelson's character is lessened when we learn that he had been suspended prior to going after Max (which makes an ulterior motive all the more likely - why else would he pursue Max if he's not being paid to?).The performances across the board are generally poor with both Brosnan and Hayek being particularly wooden. Harris is OK, but she isn't given much to do and to her credit her Caribbean accent isn't bad (most of the time). Cheadle is good in the scenes that he's in, but again isn't given much to work with. Harrelson is the strongest link and does put in the best performance - although that's not saying much.This is probably the worst heist flick that I've seen and for the most part it is a dull plodder that takes a long time to get going and even when it does get going it never really amounts to much. The final scene did make me laugh even though I could see it coming a mile off. Well, for the guys, at least we can get to see Salma Hayek scantily clad for at least half of the film. Sadly, these moments are the only real high points in this tedious and boring film.

Perhaps a lobotomized mollusk could endure this paint-by-the numbers masterpiece. Even Salma Hayek in a skimpy bikini and lingerie can't save this contrived nonsense. However, I must admit that Woody Harrelson playing Stanley Lloyd, a doofus FBI agent is worth a chuckle. If Stanley is based on a real agent, it is easy to understand why the FBI bungled the 9/11 attacks against the Twin Towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon.In reality, this seems to be a lame sequel to the revised version of the The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Except, this time, Pierce has switched from stealing art to jewels.There are so many holes in the script that you could drive convoys through them. For example, Agent Stan is suspended by the FBI after allowing Max to steal a rare diamond that was in a case carried by Stan. But, although suspended from the Bureau, Stan magically appears in Nassau, Bahamas, with his gun, badge, identification card and six suitcases of high-tech surveillance equipment. And, he walks right through Bahamian Customs without anyone questioning.This was a big-budget movie (estimated at $58 million) which was initially released by New Line Cinema during 12 November 2004. It never made money. After two years the worldwide gross was a meager $61.3 million which means New Line only received approximately $30 million.It is difficult to believe that Pierce, Salma, Woody and Don Cheadle read the pathetic script by Paul Zbyszewski (who during 2010 became co-executive producer of the Hawaii Five-O TV series). Apparently, director Brett Ratner simply offered big money and they gladly conspired to swindle the public. Obviously, New Line and Brett Ratner thought Pierce, Salma, Woody and Don in a movie was a slam dunk. The love-story subplot between Pierce and Salma is pathetic and the pseudo love scenes are lame. But, they are magnificent compared to the bi-racial love story between Woody and Naomie Harris, who plays Sophie, a local Nassau cop. During their big love scene she receives a call on her cell phone and pushes Woody away. He begs for five minutes. "Can you do it in two minutes," she asks. He says "yes" and begins humping while they are still wearing underwear.I won't bother explaining the idiotic ending other than to say it is appropriate for a Saturday morning kid's show.

THE GOOD - (1) A very colorful film, with wonderful bright colors from the Bahamas scenery; (2) an interesting story right from the get-go; (3) originality in the story; and (4) yes, to be honest, Hayak's figure, which is seen in abundance throughout the film. She knows it's good and isn't shy about showing it, and (5) overall a good mixture of crime, comedy, romance and suspense and just right amount of time at just under 100 minutes.THE BAD - (1) Insulting gratuitous sex and really stupid sexual dialog at times; (2) once again subversive Hollywood making the FBI character a moron, for the most part; (3) some Rambo mentality (bad guys miss from close range, good guys never miss, etc.).It's an outlandish story but don't analyze it for credibility or you'd be turned off and quit after 10 minutes. Just go along for the ride and enjoy the entertainment....and entertaining it is!

First of all, this movie is not to be taken seriously. A plot about a heist that has been done before -- especially with Pierce Brosnan as a likable, stylish, master-thief protagonist (think the Thomas Crown Affair). This is done in a much more comic, lighthearted style that "TCA" was. Contained a plot twist that I admit I did not see coming. The reason that it was rated well, but not outstandingly was because the genre of movie has been done before. The details and obstacles of the heist have changed, but follows a format of these types of movies seen again and again: The Thomas Crown Affair, Ocean's Eleven, the Italian Job, Gone in 60 Seconds, etc. This movie was quite entertaining and worth watching as all of those previously mentioned were, just without much in terms of creatively straying from the formula. I think that the casting worked, too. Woody Harrelson and Pierce Brosnan were excellently cast in this protagonist/antagonist relationship.