Shadows on the Wall | The Gentleman Thief

The Gentleman Thief

dir Randall Ives Emmett
scr Chris Sivertson
prd Alissa Holley, Randall Emmett, Joel Cohen
with John Travolta, Lukas Haas, Rebecca De Mornay, Danny Pardo, Beau Bommarito, Emily Skinner, Joel Cohen, Quavo, Sam Asghari, Natali Yura, Jas Mathur, DJ Khaled
release US 28.Jul.26
26/US 1h37

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Swooping camerawork and a thumping score are generously deployed to ramp up the tension in this rather awkward heist thriller. So are glamorous locations and flashy cars. And cool cast members add plenty of swagger. As required by the genre, the script is full of twists and turns leading to an explosive finale. None of this is very clever, but it's an entertaining way to kill some time.

Retired thief Mason (Travolta) is enjoying a quiet life on a golf course when his little brother Shawn (Haas) begs him to get back to work. Their trip to Miami with the old gang (Bommarito, Quavo, Asghari and Yura) is supposedly just a holiday, but Mason isn't surprised that Shawn's been hired by Violet (Skinner) to rob her angry art-collector boyfriend (Mathur). Mason also runs into his flirtatious former cohort Odessa (De Mornay). And their FBI nemesis Richter (Cohen) turns up too. Meanwhile behind the scenes, escaped convict Abel (Pardo) is plotting revenge against him.

This is one of those films in which money is no object, as everyone flies in private jets, stays in spectacular waterfront resorts and wears achingly slick costumes and zips around in whizzy boats. And their old friend DJ Khaled hosts them to zoom multimillion-dollar cars around an empty Formula 1 track. And the writing is flatly obvious. So even if everything feels wildly ridiculous, at least it looks great, and offhanded throwaway lines occasionally elicit a smile. Essentially the movie is a hot mess.

Flippant performances match the film's tone, as it never tries to be something more than it is. So the characters are relaxed and likeable, even as they're all hiding lots of secrets. While he feels a little stiff, Travolta has enough charisma to keep the film afloat, and his scenes with the terrific De Mornay light things up nicely. The sparky ensemble around them is relaxed and just a bit goofy, which adds to the genial tone.

The script's gyrations include double and triple crosses, none of which are remotely complex or surprising. But the antics are fun to watch, mainly because they never demand much from the viewer. And the filmmakers never bother to try to find a point to any of it. This allows us to simply smile along with the story because the cast seems to be enjoying such a lovely tropical getaway. Sadly for them that's not enough to start a franchise.

themes, language, violence 26.Jul.26

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