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RATING:  
SINGAPORE: Maybe it's seeing those old-school reliables Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne and Skeet Ulrich all together on the big screen. Or maybe it's just refreshing - in current world of hyper-violent stunt-laden action flicks - to have one inconspicuous action-thriller actually be quite enjoyable when it doesn't try that hard.
Sure the clichés and predictable twists are all there, as director Nimrod Antal (Vacancy) tells the story (James V Simpson's first screenplay) about a motley crew of armoured car security guards who attempt a US$42-million ($59-million) bank heist, only to find their supposedly perfect non-violent, victimless plan going deadly awry as the in-fighting begins.
But the underlying themes of wavering moral consciences, working-class desperation and a disheartened bankrupted America is shot with a workmanlike efficiency and more than keeps the film chugging along.
The seasoned actors (especially Reno and Fishburne) do what they can to rise above their obviously caricatured characters without the slightest hint of condescension to the audience. Antal's disregard for logic and a tendency to be overwrought might roll some eyes, but this restrained movie has enough testosterone and truck chases to engage the hard-core action audience.
- TODAY/sh
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