I tried this movie after "Flick Connection" named it as one of the best current offerings on a new streaming service. Not as good as I hoped, but still pretty good.
The actual staging of the movie - the stunts, the acting, the editing - is pretty good. Not quite at the level of "Heat" or "The Score", but polished and skillful. And some of the dialog is sharp and memorable.
Where the movie falls apart is in the plotting: in order for the story to come out the way it does, it has to have the supporting characters make unbelievable sentimental choices that I just can't buy. Yes, the "Vaughn" character is a diamond in the rough, but you can't believe for a second that the hostages or the driver or the cop in pursuit would make the decisions they do to let Vaughn get away from the bus at the end. Similarly ,Robert DeNiro's character, who starts the movie's opening scene allowing a pair of hapless thieves to be tortured and put to death over a minor amount of money, but lets Vaughn get by with his own stunt after a heart-to-heart with his (DeNiro's) daughter.
So that cost the movie a star or two. But it had enough going for it that I pretty much was glad I saw it.
The actual staging of the movie - the stunts, the acting, the editing - is pretty good. Not quite at the level of "Heat" or "The Score", but polished and skillful. And some of the dialog is sharp and memorable.
Where the movie falls apart is in the plotting: in order for the story to come out the way it does, it has to have the supporting characters make unbelievable sentimental choices that I just can't buy. Yes, the "Vaughn" character is a diamond in the rough, but you can't believe for a second that the hostages or the driver or the cop in pursuit would make the decisions they do to let Vaughn get away from the bus at the end. Similarly ,Robert DeNiro's character, who starts the movie's opening scene allowing a pair of hapless thieves to be tortured and put to death over a minor amount of money, but lets Vaughn get by with his own stunt after a heart-to-heart with his (DeNiro's) daughter.
So that cost the movie a star or two. But it had enough going for it that I pretty much was glad I saw it.