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Entrapment Customer Reviews (19 - 21 of 36 Reviews)

dull heist caper
The "heist" plot has been a staple of movies down through the decades, including such films as "Rififi," "Topkapi," "Gambit," "How to Steal a Million," "The Hot Rock" ad infinitum. In most cases, the object of the carefully crafted theft usually involved priceless jewels or artwork. In the latest installment, "Entrapment," there are indeed valuable tangible works to be lifted, but, in the style of true '90's thievery, the real goldmine lies in the more abstract vein of computer banking and currency transfer. Alas, the aptly named "Entrapment" falls into a trap of its own making, gussying up a hopelessly conventional script with a display of impressive computer hardware and eyeboggling gadgetry in a vain attempt to overcome dull, barely believable characters and a script totally devoid of the cleverness and wit necessary to carry this sort of story off.

Sean Connery and the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones portray accomplished thieves who, after a customary skirmish of mutual doubt and suspicion, decide to steal first a priceless Chinese mask and then $8 billion from the Southeast Bank in Koala Lampur. To give the film's its patina of contemporary relevance, the script inserts timely references to Y2K and the millennial bug - all to no avail. For unfortunately, Connery and Zeta-Jones, though both very charismatic stars in other circumstances, do not register high on the credibility scale here. It is hard to believe that this doddering dolt and this whiny, weepy fashionplate could possible concoct, let alone carry out, such elaborate heists and even gravity-defying stunts. Even less believable are the romantic interludes between this 60-year old man and this 20-something year old woman. The scenes in which Connery trains Jones to perform elaborate tricks of physical dexterity are dull and cutesy - and the final scene of reconciliation (at an empty train station) is so hopelessly contrived that the filmmakers seem to have thrown all logic out the window and allow the characters to perform feats that actually defy the laws of physical possibility.

The basic purpose of "Entrapment" seems to have been to allow two likable actors the chance to cavort in a myriad of eyepopping settings and to dazzle the audience with the latest in technocyber hardware. It's too bad that the less techno value of a solid script driven by smart dialogue and well developed characters was not downloaded into this film as well.

Average action flick; very lopsided.
I called Entrapment "lopsided" because its first act is a complete bust, confusing and uninteresting, but its final sequences make for very effective action filmmaking.

Skipping the fact that this movie is trying to generate heat between two actors two generations apart (30-year-old Catherine Zeta-Jones and 70-something Sean Connery), this movie succeeds on quite a few levels -- and falls flat on others.

It was surprising for me to discover that the script was co-written by Ron Bass. For the first 30 minutes are utter chaos -- not giving the audience the information it needs, stingy with exposition, and quite frankly badly scripted, staged, and acted. Catherine Zeta-Jones comes alive onscreen, though, once she is paired with Connery -- faced with the task of matching Connery's legendary screen presence, she faces up to the task admirably, projecting charisma and a good degree of emotional authenticity. Not a great performance, but a solid one. Connery waltzes his way through another not-so-challenging but fun performance.

The execution of the dramatic scenes as well as the set-ups for the scenario were very poorly done by Jon Amiel (Copycat). However, Amiel redeems himself partially by the slam-bang last half hour of the film, where suspense and tension are both high and the stunts have a degree of freshness to them. Worth a look.

Stay Retired
Dude, Sean Connery needs to stay retired. Seriously. You can't steal anymore. An insurance investigator and art thief played by Catherine Zeta-Jones (too hot to even by near the retired guy) is assigned to check out the retired burglar. They join forces after much bickering and do a good job. Then they go for a huge Y2K bank theft. This movie moved too slowly for me to even care about what was going on. Zeta-Jones would be a good Bond girl, but not for Connery. Blasphemy! Ultra funny Ving Rhames was also in this movie, but he made a couple of appearances. The ending left an opening for a sequel, but I hope they just leave this as it is. No more artifact, young woman movies!

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