Fast-paced caper to enjoy
DON’T GO LOOKING FOR DEEPER MEANING – THIS ONE’S NO PICASSO
Sometimes you just need to kick back and enjoy two hours of great entertainment.
Ok. So you’re a film critic with a ponytail, John Lennon glasses and an opinion about movies that stretches from Cape to Cairo. You watch a flick, distil the content, the writing, the performances and direction. Then you put pen to paper and come up with ... pure nonsense.
Because nowhere in the highly flatulent approach to reviewing anything but an art house film does the actual mindless enjoyment of two hours or so of entertainment feature.
Digging deep into symbolism or character depth that might have never been intended, well, it gives more away about the reviewer than what it is.
Not every movie needs a dissection, dissertation or a thesis on its merits as a work of art. Flea market or corporate paintings never undergo this kind of torture, if it’s not a Picasso or a Van Gogh, so what?
Kevin Hart’s new Netflix offering called Lift, is such a movie. It’s a fantastical caper that’s funny, fast paced and enjoyable.
Critics have, of course, slammed the hollow character development and its lack of emotional depth and believability.
What a load of poppycock. Because Lift is just over two hours of fun, and it’s make-believe, not a biographical epic of Joan of Arc.
Lift is about a group of skilled thieves, led by Hart, who have been challenged to steal a half-billion dollars worth of gold bars.
It’s in partnership with Interpol, because Hart, who plays criminal mastermind Cyrus, was caught on a previous heist and to keep their bottoms out of the slammer, cooperation with the authorities is the only choice they have. Incidentally, the Interpol agent is also Cyrus’ love interest.
The heist presents problems. The gold is on a commercial airliner travelling between London and Zurich. That’s when the stealing has to happen. But how?
Cyrus and his band of expert crooks devise a most wickedly wild plan and end up turning a private jet into some kind of stealth version of itself.
Implausible radar switches take place and somehow, of course, the plan plays out in an action-packed and dramatic visual feast.
They steal the gold in the air. And then it all goes wrong. Or so the audience is led to believe.
Lift is a swashbuckler of note, and the action is non-stop.
Hart’s charm and fallability and his supporting cast gives an audience exactly what we would want. Just enough tension, just enough conflict and more than enough camaraderie.
Sure it’s all cliches. But so what?
Lift is directed by F Gary Gray and also features an ensemble cast that includes Sam Worthington, along with Gugu MbathaRaw, who has South African roots, as Abby Gladwell, and other notable actors like Vincent d’Onofrio, whose credits stretch back as far as 1987’s Full Metal Jacket.
The plot takes a decided twist when the real move is revealed towards the end of the show.
And, of course, Cyrus and company somehow end up with all the gold and the Interpol love interest.
Lift is a whole lot of fun if you are not looking for a deep emotional connection with the characters, if you are happy with a romp that feels like you might have seen aspects of it before, in countless other movies.
Lift is fast paced, it is engaging and despite the fact that none of the characters bar, in some ways, Cyrus are developed to a reasonable extent, it doesn’t matter.
Because it is a caper, and an adventure that’s fun to watch.