After the Sunset
Directed by: Brett Ratner
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle
Rated: PG-13 for sexuality, violence and language.
Parental Notes: There’s some sensuality here, but nothing terribly explicit. This is probably a harmless film for preteens but not really aimed at those younger than about 12.
The cat and mouse thief thriller is a classic genre, and about nine tenths of the new film “After the Sunset” fits into it perfectly, providing thrills, clever dialog, brilliant theivery, and sizzling sex appeal. Unfortunately, the remaining tenth is mediocre at best, full of weak humor and unnecessary twists. It doesn’t quite ruin the film but it does come close.
The plot centers around Lola (Salma Hayek) and Max (Pierce Brosnan), a pair of brilliant thieves who are perfect together both professionally and personally. As the film opens, they pull off a brilliant heist, stealing an incredibly valuable diamond and humiliating their old nemisis, Agent Lloyd (Woody Harrelson) for good measure. They then retire to a beautiful Carribbean island to enjoy the spoils of victory.
Everything is charming except that Max is having trouble adjusting to a stress- and thievery-free life. When Agent Lloyd shows up and accuses him of plotting to steal the last diamond in the set he’s stolen the rest of, Max insists he isn’t planing to, but is tempted. Lola knows it’s a bad idea, that hubris will do even the best thieves in, but he still isn’t sure. Temptation is awfully strong. When a local thug tries to hire him to steal the jewel, it only adds to his problems.
The heists and psychological trickery are a delight. Brosnan is a natural in the smooth lawbreaker role and Hayek is equally good as the dangerous and skilled woman. Harrelson pulls off his desperate and oft-humiliated role with good humor. These roles are standard parts and the actors fill them well, wearing the stereotypes like comfortable clothes.
Plus, the capers are delightfully clever, making use of cutting edge high tech gagetry in ways it wasn’t quite intended to be utilized one minute, and then doing old-fashioned, dirty, hands-on work the next. If you like caper movies, these parts are sure to please.
Where the film weakens is in the bits that stray from the formula. There are a handful of not-quite-offensive jokes around homosexuality and the battle of the sexes which give one the feeling that the filmmakers wanted to appear sophisticated but couldn’t quite pull it off. Worse, there’s an embarassingly maudlin speech by Max that is completely out of place. It belongs in a tearjerker historical romance, not a hip, sexy caper flick. Plus, the ending thrashes around as though the screenwriter couldn’t quite figure out how to wrap things up.
Overall, the nine tenths of the film that are formula caper schtick are great. They’re fun, exciting, and have some clever laughs. If you can ignore the other tenth, you’ll probably enjoy the film.