Righteous Thieves

                   I love a good heist movie, as there is just something about the turns those movies make that makes me smile. I am thinking of movies like Heist, Inside Man, and even the Ocean 11 movies, that make committing a crime look so damn cool. Not all heist movies are created equal, as just like real crimes, there are smart ones, there are dumb ones, and ones that try way too hard to be smart. Righteous Thieves fits in the last category, as it feels way too overdressed for the party we get.

Annabel (Lisa Vidal) works for the Syndicate, a group who try and track down and retrieve lost works of art that the Nazi’s stole during World War II. Annabel is not coming off a job well done, as her last mission ended up with a painting getting destroyed. She is back though with info on a really good retrieval and after some convincing, the group gets behind her. Annabel is flanked by her right hand man, Eddie (Carlos Miranda), a cool cat who looks like he could charm himself out of most situations. The two of them though are not enough for this job, so it’s time for a little team building.  You have Bruno (Cam Gigandet), who is the muscle, in case things go sideways, Nadia (Sasha Merci), to get through the locks, and Lucille (Jaina Lee Ortiz), who is there to provide her computer skills. Their target is a man named Vanderhoof (Michael Fairman), who has four paintings that Annabel wants very badly. The job starts off very promising, but Vanderhoof seems to be a few steps ahead of them, almost risking the job. Luck, though is on the teams side, as things fall into place and they might be able to pull off one hell of a heist.

Written by Michael Corcoran, who has the basic shape of a thrilling heist flick, but the story is very formulaic, which leads to a not very memorable experience. Sure there is some mild action and things do get stolen, but it feels like director Cocoran cares more on how things look than how they are executed. When it’s finally heist time, we are left wanting as it tries to get clever with a resolution that lacks any real kind of punch.

Righteous Thieves really feels undercooked, with characters you don’t care about and the tease of a sequel that feels like a threat. There is a good base in there, which is the story and idea, unfortunately it is covered with a lot of make-up, which makes it more difficult to see its naturally beauty. The style of the film just didn’t work for me and the choices in a soundtrack is just that, a choice, it doesn’t feel organic. This is for sure a misstep, as it lacks the thrills and frills that an even an average heist movie can produce. I wanted to enjoy this film, my love for heist movies is strong, but the only thing this movie is stealing is your time, if you decide to watch it.