Rating of
1.5/4
Dissappointing
MovieMike - wrote on 12/22/11
There are a number of films that have used the ‘perfect heist plan gone wrong’ story line, and ‘Armored’ is yet another entry into this well-traveled category. So how does it stack up against the likes of titles such as ‘A Simple Plan’, ‘Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead’, or ‘The Lookout’? I’m afraid it just doesn’t come off well enough to be considered notable. I lump it in with these titles because in each of these, the robbery itself is quite secondary to the main story. These films explore the dynamic of the conspirators as things begin to unravel for them and in each case; the film itself is devoid of spectacular effects and relies of a fairly small cast and their actions.
Director, Nimrod Antel, who’s previous US credit is the thriller ‘Vacancy’, seems to understand that this film really needs to be a character study and begins by slowly introducing us to the motley crew of guys who work for the armored car company they plan to rip off. Of special interest and focus is Ty Hackett, played by Columbus Short (‘Quarantine’, ‘Stomp The Yard’). Hackett is an Iraq war vet who comes home to deceased parents, a delinquent younger brother, and a pile of leftover bills that are threatening to leave them homeless. Mike Cochrone, played deftly here by Matt Dillon (‘Crash’, ‘Drugstore Cowboy’), is Ty’s on the job mentor and family friend. Dillon has a knack of playing characters that on the surface appear to be good, but gives the sense of an underlying darkness.
We also get Laurence Fishburne (‘Hoodlum’, ‘The Matrix’) as Baines, a slightly psychotic, trigger-happy character itching for action. Jean Reno (‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Ronin’) as Quinn, is also part of the armored car crew. Nowhere near as effective as he was in his first major role as Leon in ‘The Professional’, his part in all this comes off as merely typecasting.
So where does this film fall short? Well short is a good adjective to use here, because with a running time of 88 minutes, writer James V. Simpson and Antel had ample room to flesh out a more detailed story line. What we actually get is the slow beginning I mentioned, but once the trucks roll with the loot, things move along at a bit quicker pace and there is no chance to explore motives, feelings or dynamics. I felt that Antel painted his characters as a bit too desperate to be believable. There are also a fair amount of plot holes that readily detract from what should have been more meaningful scenes. As I mentioned earlier, the pacing is problematic, and it remains uneven throughout the film. All in all, ‘Armored’ is just not the secure hit it could have been.
