Review: Den Of Thieves

Image courtesy of STX Entertainment.

Christian Gudegast's "Den of Thieves" is a moderately entertaining heist drama, albeit an unoriginal one. While the picture moves along pretty swiftly - despite its two-hour-20-minute running time - and features a few well-handled action sequences, the biggest takeaway from the film is that its director has been watching a lot of Michael Mann movies.

Not only does the tension between lead cop Nick Flanagan (Gerard Butler) and top crook Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) feel noticeably similar to that of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Mann's "Heat," but its shootouts and storylines - especially one involving Butler's crumbling marriage, which resembles that of Pacino in "Heat" - feel directly pinched from that superior 1995 movie. Plus, the ending of "Den of Thieves" appears to steal from yet another movie - "The Usual Suspects."

But for a film that not-so-subtly borrows from others, you could do worse than "Den of Thieves," which is often intense and makes great use of Los Angeles as a backdrop. In the film, Flanagan is a rogue cop who describes himself as the "bad guy." It's hard to argue with him. He dabbles in police brutality, cheats on his wife and is of the school of shoot first, ask questions later.

The gang - or den, rather - of thieves that he is pursuing is led by Merrimen, who is no saint himself. In an early scene, he and his crew shoot up a group of security officers who are transferring money in an armored truck and he makes no qualms about letting loose a barrage of gunfire during a crowded traffic jam. One of the film's great frustrations is Merrimen's motivation. At one point, one of the cops investigating him points out his military service and asks what his deal is - in other words, what made him take the crooked path. We never find out.

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is Merrimen's top lieutenant, but his character is given little to do than act tough, although there is a modestly amusing scene during which he scares his daughter's prom date. O'Shea Jackson Jr. is given more to do as Merrimen's getaway driver and his character might be the most interesting of the entire film. I can't elaborate too much, but suffice it to say that Jackson gets the meatiest role here. In terms of plot, "Den of Thieves" is one in a long line of pictures about an impossible heist - in this case, the seemingly impenetrable Los Angeles Federal Reserve Bank.

"Den of Thieves" is a decent enough action thriller. Whether it's recommendable would depend, in part, on a viewer's tolerance for watching recycled material. In this case, much has been borrowed. That being said,  the picture is skillfully made. Narratively, you won't see anything you haven't already seen dozens of times, but Gudegast has the ability to squeeze some exciting and well-shot sequences out of tired material. Let's just hope that his next effort is a little more original.