Last shot at a good life
Honest Thief
Liam Neeson is at his tough-guy best as a notorious bank robber who wants to turn himself in after falling in love, but ends up being double-crossed by FBI agents out to frame him and fleece him of his millions.
An engrossing and amiable drama, Honest Thief might lack the over-the-top violence of Neeson’s Taken franchise, but it is tight and smart entertainment.
He plays safe- breaker Tom Carter, a former marine bomb disposal expert who’s relocating to Boston. Hailed as the ‘In and Out Bandit’, he has fooled authorities for years, but in truth has never spent any of the $9million he has nicked.
When he falls for Annie (an excellent Kate Walsh) he offers to return the cash in exchange for a lighter sentence. But dodgy FBI agents Niven ( Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos) decide to take the money for themselves and when they have to kill their boss, Baker (Robert Patrick), they frame him.
They also make the mistake of going after Annie, meaning Neeson slips into revenge mode and embarks on a deadly cat-and-mouse chase through the city.
Neeson, at 68, is suitably grizzled and determined as this honest thief and his clear charisma helps the relatively straightforward storyline.
Jai Courtney plays the callous agent well, but best of all is Jeffrey Donovan (star of TV’s Burn Notice) as a genial FBI agent who takes over when Baker is killed. Newly divorced and having to drag his ex’s needy dog around, he gives the film heart to go with the violence.
Neeson slips into revenge mode and embarks on a deadly cat and mouse chase