The Taken series — starting with the first one, back in 2008 — turned Liam Neeson into an action hero, which he has embraced enthusiastically.
And who can blame him? Strike while the iron is hot.
Director Mark Williams’ Honest Thief — available via Amazon Prime — is an unremarkable, cookie-cutter thriller; even so, Neeson brings his customary dignified gravitas to the project.
Forced to go on the run with Tom (Liam Neeson), whom she suddenly realizes has been
concealing a lot about himself, Annie (Kate Walsh) begins to worry about her own
life expectancy.
The script, by Williams and Steve Allrich, is pure formula: a reasonable set-up, a despicable villain, a token (brief) car chase, familiar co-stars, a cute dog and a satisfying conclusion. All told, it’s a reasonable way to spend 99 minutes on a mindless Friday evening.
Boston-based Tom Dolan (Neeson) has been a master thief for years, carefully sussing out banks with older, easy-to-crack vaults. The smoothness of his one-man jobs has seen him dubbed the “In-and-Out Bandit” — a moniker he loathes — by the media and FBI agents who’ve never gotten anywhere near nailing him.
Dolan has amassed $9 million … but, oddly, hasn’t spent a penny. His motivation, we eventually learn, leans more toward retribution than avarice.
He has a chance encounter with Annie Wilkins (Kate Walsh, refreshingly age-appropriate), a clerk at the storage facility where he hides his ill-gotten gains. They banter briefly; the room’s atmosphere shifts.
Flash-forward one year.
Tom and Annie are a solid item, and he has given up on bank jobs, but nonetheless feels guilty about having to conceal his larcenous past. (One wonders what he has told her, in terms of how he earns a living, but this script doesn’t worry about such details.) He therefore decides to negotiate a trade: He’ll turn himself into the FBI, and return all the money, in exchange for a lenient sentence with visitation rights.
Enter local FBI Chief Sam Baker (Robert Patrick) and agent Sean Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan), who take Tom’s phone call. They don’t initially believe him, because they’ve been hearing from all manner of nut-jobs who claim to be the In-and-Out Bandit.
The irony here is amusing: Tom wants to come clean, but can’t.
He eventually supplies enough detail — and sincerity — that Baker reluctantly decides to investigate. He assigns the case to colleagues John Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Ramon Hall (Anthony Ramos). They’re also dubious, and demand proof from Tom; he lets them borrow the storage unit key, where they can verify its cash contents.
(You’re right: That’s unbelievably idiotic on Tom’s part. This is the script’s most contrived howler, but it moves the plot along, so we shrug and let it go.)
Nivens — corrupt as the day is long — realizes he can kill Tom, take the cash, and then tell Baker and Meyers that it was just another waste of time. But that’s way beyond Hall’s comfort zone, which is where this script compensates for the earlier gaffe; although reluctantly persuaded to go along, Hall is unhappy about it. Ramos does a nice job with his character’s moral quandary, which adds a pleasant touch of uncertainty to what comes next.
Tom — assuming he can survive long enough — understands that nobody will accept his word over that of two FBI agents. He’s in a genuine pickle. On top of which, that visit to the storage facility also has put Annie in Nivens’ cross-hairs.
And we’re off to the races.
Courtney is thoroughly credible as an amoral thug: a bad guy we love to hate. Patrick phones in a standard-issue “boss role,” which isn’t developed very far.
Walsh’s Annie is captivating and intelligent; she fits smoothly at Tom’s side. Most crucially, Walsh sells Annie’s reaction — initial disbelief, followed by consternation — when Tom finally is forced to come clean.
Meyers is something of a wild card, and the always reliable Donovan — his genial smile frequently evident — adds far more to the role than what probably came from the printed page. Meyers is shrewd, observant and quick to assess a situation; he also supplies gentle comic relief, thanks to the ongoing travails of his recent divorce, which granted him custody of Tazzie, the Cutest Little Dog In The World (possibly a Shih-Tzu/Wheaten Terrier mix).
Williams and editor Michael P. Shawver maintain a crisp pace, which is wise; momentum conceals some of the plot’s more questionable details. Most crucially, Neeson ensures that we’re firmly on Tom’s side; he’s one of very few actors who can elevate this sort of lightweight material.
Judging by Neeson’s upcoming schedule, he has several more action thrillers in the pipeline. Fine by me.
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