Entrapment (1999)

Directed by: Jon Amiel | 113 minutes | thriller, romance, crime | Actors: Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ving Rhames, Will Patton, Maury Chaykin, Kevin McNally, Terry O’Neill, Madhav Sharma, David Yip, Tim Potter, Eric Meyers, Aaron Swartz, William Marsh, Tony Xu, Rolf Saxon

‘Entrapment’ is a so-called heist movie, the genre in which something has to be looted in a clever way. ‘Ocean’s 11’ is also one of them, but unlike in this blockbuster, ‘Entrapment’ is not about sophisticated casino crooks but about an intimate crime alliance between an aging art thief who wants to pull one last trick (Connery) and a young insurance agent who has to track him down under cover (Zeta-Jones). The spry retiree Connery and the ravishing Zeta-Jones guarantee a fruitful collaboration in an entertaining, fairly exciting movie in which the chemistry is constantly palpable; veteran British director Jon Amiel (‘Sommersby’; ‘Copycat’) brings together the right ingredients for an above-average crime film at an enjoyable pace: you can expose your mother and father to it and your adolescent nephew can marvel at the romping suits – very functional, by the way – from Zeta-Jones, who shows in this film that she can compete with the top of Hollywood actresses in terms of beauty, appearance and concentration – although she will never become the girl next door needed for megastar status.

It’s the laws of mediocrity that rule the box offices, but the Welsh Catherine needn’t worry about that; fellow Brit Connery certainly not: he only comes out of his house in the Highlands for the raisins and with ‘Entrapment’ – which scored well with a worldwide revenue of more than 200 million dollars – he has not missed the point. As ‘Mac’ – a shrewd gentleman thief – old Bond routinely grins at his charms, as in the best advertisement for Scotch whiskey with a beard and turtleneck. And it’s an exciting game that the old master plays with undercover agent Gin Baker. They don’t touch each other throughout the film – just like the laser beams from the alarm systems that they have to avoid during their nighttime museum visits; at the end they try to outdo each other – against the backdrop of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, with its Twin Towers connected by footbridges. Exciting and spectacular…