Entrapment (1999) [Blu-ray]
Action | Crime | Romance | Thriller


Tagline: Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. Then again, practice makes perfect.

When a priceless Rembrandt is stolen in New York, the insurance company sends its most cunning - and seductive - investigator (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to match wits with a solitary master thief (Sean Connery). Following a global of cat-and-mouse chase, the two join forces for the ultimate heist.. or so it seems.

Storyline: Following the theft of a highly-secured piece of artwork, an agent convinces her insurance agency employers to allow her to wriggle into the company of an aging but active master thief. Connery's burglar takes her on suspiciously and demands rigorous training before their first job together--stealing a highly-valued mask from a chichi party. Their deepening attraction and distrust could tear apart their partnership but the promise of a bigger prize (some eight billion odd dollars) by Zeta-Jones keeps the game interesting. Only, who's playing with whom? Written by Lordship

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman on January 15, 2010 -- I'm a thief, so sue me. --- Entrapment -- that movie with Catherine Zeta-Jones and her slithering backside maneuvering through a grid of red yarn standing in for laser sensors -- did indeed bother to build a story around its trademark and single memorable shot, even if few actually remember it. The story is but a blur, a necessary device around which to frame a singular shot that would define a film. Other films, over time, have come to be remembered for but a line of dialogue, a notable scene, or even an entire sequence, but Entrapment is a rare picture that's been reduced to a single one or two second shot. It's no secret that it's the film's trademark shot; not only was it the centerpiece of the trailer, but even the film's title card is built around a laser grid, an unmistakable clue that Entrapment is a film that, even before its release, was bound to be whittled down to but a backside. Additionally, it's not even just that Jones looks good maneuvering about the room in tight-fitting clothes, but the fact of the matter is, Entrapment is a well-executed but nevertheless completely forgettable picture with nothing else of substance to offer, one of many movies out there without any single glaring weakness but still a wholly inconsequential slice of cinema through and through.

It's 16 days before the turn of the millennium, and a costly Rembrandt painting has fallen victim to the skills of a master thief with both the money and the wherewithal to pull off such a daring and perfectly-executed heist. Its destination: a collector of fine antiquities in Kuala Lumpur. Insurance agent Virginia Baker (Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Mask of Zorro) is on the case, and she suspects legendary thief Robert "Mac" MacDougal (Sean Connery, The Hunt For Red October) to be the mastermind behind the job. She convinces boss Hector Cruz (Will Patton, Remember the Titans) that to trap Mac, she must travel to England where she teams up with the notorious criminal to steal a Chinese artifact worth millions. Appearances are not all they seem, and before long and through a bit of playful tit-for-tat between them, Mac and Virginia reveal secrets and skills that set off the preparations for a daring heist and, later, another that's bound to be infinitely more profitable -- and infinitely more dangerous -- than stealing a mask and slithering through some pesky lasers.

Entrapment -- Jones' backside aside -- makes for a passable high-tech thriller, the film making good use of both gadgets and gizmos and good old-fashioned cunning to pull off the capers as seen in the film. Though still in its relative infancy, Entrapment holds up from a purely technological perspective some 10 years after its initial release, the film not at all dated considering the rapid advancements in technology that the first decade of the 21st century has seen. Whether the film will look and feel dated at some future time is irrelevant, however; what matters more is whether the plot and style of the film can withstand the test of time, and the answer to that question seems far more certain. Entrapment, despite a few thinly-veiled twists and turns, is nothing to write home about. A by-the-book thriller with predictable arcs, generic action, a mediocre script, workmanlike direction, and decent acting, the film plods along with no real egregious problems, but it fails time and again to prove itself worthy of anything more than a passing interest, a prototypical "see it and forget it" sort that's one of many residing in a cinematic purgatory that houses neither the dregs of the medium nor its most prominent entries.

Entrapment's sole flaw, then, lies in its banal tone and thematic irrelevance. Sure, the more intense heist scenes offer a fair amount of tension, even in the face of certain outcomes and obvious gaps in logic. On the plus side, the film is nicely shot; director Jon Amiel (Somersby) lends a steady hand behind the camera, allowing for some decent scenery and camera work to wiggle into the picture while leaving his pair of scene-chewing actors to dominate the film. Nevertheless, Connery and Jones offer little more than window dressing in this one. Like everything else about the film, their efforts are fine and dandy but there's no real sense of adventure to the performances. Everything feels scripted and rehearsed, whether the rehearsal scenes for the crime, the heists themselves, or all that's in between. Neither actor seems all that interested in the plot, but it's hard to blame them when it's as generic as this one. Still, Entrapment -- in all its mediocre glory -- still makes for an entertaining Saturday afternoon sort of movie. It's just strong yet simple enough in every regard to hold one's interest and make for a passable time-killer, but viewers shouldn't expect much more.

A movie that's defined by a singular shot, Entrapment certainly got itself plenty of recognition upon its initial release, and its claim to fame has withstood the test of time, still proving to be the film's -- and perhaps even one of modern cinema's -- defining moments. Unfortunately and like its female lead, there's not much meat to be found elsewhere; Entrapment is a solid but far from exceptional Thriller with a few tricks up its sleeve but, for the most part, it plays out with a generic look and feel that's reflected in a couple of decent but not at all memorable performances from its legendary leads. Fox's Blu-ray release is, much like the film, a decent effort that's not in the least bit worthy of any special recognition. Featuring a passable 1080p transfer, a somewhat better lossless soundtrack, and only one extra of substance, fans curious as to whether an actual movie does indeed exist outside of Jones' career-defining shot would be best served to give this title a rental.

[CSW] -2.8- Good once.

--- JOYA ---

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