Cash Out, 2024.
Directed by Ives.
Starring John Travolta, Kristin Davis, Lukas Haas, Quavo, Joel Cohen, Noel Gugliemi, Daniel Louis Rivas, Natali Yura, Victorya Brandart, Demián Castro, Luis Da Silva Jr., Matt Gerald, Chris Lindsay, Korrina Rico, and Swen Temmel.
SYNOPSIS:
Professional thief Mason attempts his biggest heist with his brother, robbing a bank. When it goes wrong, they’re trapped inside surrounded by law enforcement. Tension rises as Mason negotiates with his ex-lover, the lead negotiator.
There is puzzlement about some character relationships within the bank heist thriller Cash Out. Unfortunately, it’s also not the exciting kind of bewilderment that keeps one in suspense as the band of thieves attempts to pull off the job, which, by the way, is dumb in itself: a mission to break into a safety deposit box that has a wallet with information leading to $6 million in cryptocurrency.
Back to the point, career criminal and ringleader Mason (a barely invested John Travolta who also might not understand these character dynamics) has a history with the on-site FBI agent Amelia (Kristin Davis) negotiating the heist (alongside her heavily armed team.) She was once a member of the group (which is down to five subtracting her, although it may as well be four considering one of them has so little to do it is somewhat of a revelation that he still exists during the finale) and seemingly romantically entwined with Mason, prepared to live peacefully on an island following one final big score. As the prologue reveals, she was undercover, but her feelings may or may not have been real.
Watching the opening, it comes across as Mason is naïve and dumb, with Amelia (Kristin Davis) just telling him whatever he wants to hear. There is something off about the relationship, but not the intended “do they really or don’t they love each other” way. That lack of clarity continues once, three months later, the two communicate on opposing ends of this bank heist. If there is a joke to this gimmick, every interaction they have, especially regarding the hostages’ safety, is surprisingly polite, easily coming to agreements on different terms.
The issue is that there is nothing remotely interesting about these characters to make that cheeky dynamic land with a humorous flair, primarily because the chemistry between John Travolta and Kristin Davis is confoundingly awkward. It seems as if they and director Ives (alongside screenwriters Dipo Oseni and Doug Richardson) have no vision of what they want to do with the central characters.
As for the rest of the crew, it involves Mason’s screw-up brother Shawn (Lukas Haas), eager to get back into robbing and stealing following Amelia’s betrayal that sent the rest of the team into hiding, with Mason lounging around feeling defeated and drinking. Shawn goes behind Mason’s back, hastily setting up this job while assuring his big brother that he did all of his reconnaissance and planning by the book, and that nothing will go wrong. Unsurprisingly, nothing goes as planned, with the safety deposit box revealed to belong to the mistress of a mysterious, all-powerful criminal. It’s a plot point that, much like most of the movie, turns out to be pointless, trying to lend the material some weight and danger that just isn’t there since, again, these characters are blueprint bland.
Then there is the friendly Anton (Quavo) watching over the hostages, the not-so-friendly Hector (Noel Gugliemi) insulting the hostages, and hacker Link (Natali Yura) serving exactly the purpose one would expect. While trying to untangle some mysteries related to the safety deposit box, Mason and Shawn bully bank manager Georgios (Swen Temmel) for information, who at one point tries to escape in a truly time-wasting sequence.
Some readers might be thinking this, at the very least, leads to an action-packed climax, but Cash Out mostly cheats its way out of actually having one. It’s as if the filmmakers felt like they cornered themselves and decided to jump to the epilogue instead, poorly explaining away the aftermath of the situation. Even during the heist itself, not much about the on-the-fly plan switching makes much sense, with Mason casually dismissing the importance of figuring out an escape strategy. Cash Out will likely have one checked out of the experience early on.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
