Mark Reviews Movies: HONEST THIEF

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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 15, 2020

After stealing $9,000,000 from various banks across several states, Tom (Liam Neeson) meets a woman who gives him a new path in life. There's probably a good story in this—about the thief weighing his options in regards to telling the woman he loves about his criminal past, about the woman's reaction to this information and her subsequent dilemma between love and the law/morality, about anything involving human emotions and conflict that doesn't involve gunfights and chases, really. Honest Thief possesses some such moments, but screenwriters Mark Williams (who also directed) and Steve Allrich clearly don't want them to get in the way of the movie's plot or its lackadaisical action sequences.

The story here is primarily built around a somewhat clever twist, in which the people who should care about Tom's sudden desire to turn himself in are either too apathetic or too corrupt to give the man what he wants. Instead of Tom facing the difficulties of maintaining a romantic relationship with a big lie in the middle of it or the consequences of his criminal ways, he has to face off against a system that doesn't believe him. More specifically, he has to contend with two particular members of that system, who see the robber and his illegally-gotten gains as a once-in-a-lifetime payday. Much gamesmanship, many complications, a couple of chases, and a few shootouts ensue.

It's all fairly routine, and within that mundane and predictable scheme, there's hardly any time or reason for us to care about these characters, the choices they make, and the consequences they face. There's an attempt to make these elements matter, for sure, but Williams and Allrich seem far more interested in what happens than in how or why it's happening.

With a recent bank robbery under his belt, Tom moves to Boston, where whatever plans he may have had to lay low or find a new bank in a different state are averted. Renting a storage locker for his boxes filled with stolen cash, he meets Annie (Kate Walsh), the manager of the storage facility and a graduate student of psychology (For better or worse, this is just a character trait, and there's no attempt to psychoanalyze our protagonist). They jokingly flirt, and a year later, Tom shows Annie a house he would like buy—as long as she'll move into it with him.

The burden of Tom's secret life as a bank robber, now fully behind him, takes its toll (He passes on a chance to tell Annie, who doesn't want another surprise after the house, although one might argue that, in a good relationship, the confession of being a wanted criminal should come well before asking a partner to move in with you). After booking a hotel room, Tom calls the FBI to confess to his crimes, hoping to strike a deal that would get him a minimum prison sentence and liberal visitation rights so that Annie can (put her life and plans on hold while Tom sits in prison and) see him whenever she can (Again, one could argue that, in a solid relationship, the act of turning oneself over to the authorities should come after telling a committed partner that such a situation might be necessary because of one's criminal past).

A pair of higher-up federal agents, Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan) and Baker (Robert Patrick), are skeptical of Tom's confession, so they send a pair of underling agents, Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos), to check out Tom's authenticity. When the two investigating agents find boxes filled with stolen money in Tom's storage locker, Nivens convinces Hall to steal the cash from the thief.

Some problems—mainly, the crooked agents killing one of their own and framing Tom—unfold. The rest of the story has Tom and, quickly, Annie on the run from the law, as Tom tries to convince the feds he's guilt of robbery, innocent of murder, and that they're going to face his wrath if any harm should befall Annie. He does, at least, finally tell Annie about his previously thieving ways, and probably something to be said about the fact that Annie's worth as a character is solely defined by her willingness to ignore Tom's year of lying, her status as a figure who drives Tom toward revenge, and her adoring admiration of Tom's ability to build bombs.

Williams and Allrich don't necessarily skip any steps in the human side of this story. They just don't care about them, because there's plot and action to be had instead. Tom runs and drives away from the agents. The agents try to cover their tracks, saying that Tom is just an insane faker. Eventually, Tom sets his sights on the rogue feds, while Meyers begins to suspect that his agents' unconvincing tale and erratic behavior might not be on the level.

It's all sort of intriguing in theory, but the screenplay rushes from one complication and confrontation (The shootouts here, with participants only about a dozen feet apart, are comically and lazily staged) to the next. Honest Thief leaves the characters and any kind of non-plot-related conflict on the sidelines, and the result is conventionally rote.

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