First off, there is zero chemistry between Neeson and Kate Walsh. It doesn't help that a good portion of the dialogue spoken between the two during scenes intended to be intense, is delivered with all the enthusiasm of reading the Sunday obituaries. Neeson, in particular, just doesn't seem invested. Oddly enough, Jai Courtney gives the most thrilling performance here as an FBI agent gone rogue in an attempt to steal the $9 million that Neeson's character, Tom Dolan, dubbed the In-and-Out Bandit, stole over a decade of performing solo bank heists. So, yeah, when Jai Courtney gives one of the better performances in a film, that's pretty sad.
As heist movies go, or really any movie, scriptwriters here must think audience members are pretty braindead because the plot of this movie is so asinine and cringeworthy, Honest Thief isn't very watchable. Plus, not much of what the characters do make any damn sense in real life.
This movie's problems are numerous. First off, Dolan robbed twelve banks over an extended number of years and authorities and the media obviously knew his modus operandi enough to dub him the In-and Out Bandit. So, why wasn't he caught sooner? I ask because Dolan's requirements for which bank he would target are so specific there's no way he wouldn't have been caught prior to robbing twelve banks. He always selects banks in small towns with a specific, older type of vault that is easier to crack than modern vaults and the banks ALWAYS have an adjoining vacant building through which he gains access to the bank. In addition, Dolan only does the heists during a 3-day weekend. Question: How often would such specific opportunities come together for Dolan to pull off the perfect heist? Answer: Very rarely. So, the FBI would have been all over this and figured out he was using adjoining vacant buildings to gain access to banks after, like, his third or forth successful robbery. They would have issued a memo to all older banks in small towns to inform the FBI when adjoining buildings go vacant and those banks would have been under heavy surveillance during every 3-day holiday. Dolan would have long ago been caught.
But what's worse about this plot is that Dolan claims he plasters the walls and paints after the heist so that authorities don't know how he got into the bank. Well, duh, it still wouldn't take long to figure out he got in via the vacant adjoining building! Also, even if he could plaster/patch the wall (and match the paint color perfectly) on the vacant building's side of the hole in the wall, how did he do the same on the bank's side of the wall? The answer is he would not be able to plaster, patch, and paint the hole on the bank's side of the wall and so, authorities would have known from day one how he got "in and out" of the bank (pun intended).
As for Dolan's motive for robbing banks? He did it initially to get back at the corrupt CEO who made off with his dead father's pension. Yes, this is pretty stupid. Because even if you rob a bank where the CEO of the company your dad worked for keeps his money, you're not taking the CEO's money directly, you're taking the bank's money. Any money you steal from the bank will likely be replace via the bank's blanket bond or some other form of insurance. What did Dolan think? The bank would have a vault just for the CEO with his name on it where he keeps hard cash? LMAO. NO! Plus would a CEO, even an unscrupulous one, keep all his money in a small town bank in the first place? Wouldn't he diversify his money in various investments instead or bank at a private bank for high-net-worth individuals which is not likely to have a branch in a small town? How stupid do the writers of this film think the average viewer is? Honestly?
Also, why would you attempt to turn yourself in from a hotel? If you're trying to work out a deal in return for giving back the entire $9 million, doing it from a hotel gives you no better advantage than doing it from the FBI facility. Those low-level FBI agents wouldn't be the ones that could broker him a deal anyway. Has this guy Dolan ever watched any legal drama or crime drama series on TV? SMH. It's the prosecutor and your criminal defense lawyer who would do that, and, hello, you're no where near that step yet when just turning yourself in!
Also, if you're a crooked FBI agent planning to steal the $9 million your suspect is leading you to in a nearby storage facility, why wouldn't you bring him along when he said he's turning himself in if your ultimate goal is to kill the suspect? You've already had twelve individuals falsely claim to be the In-and-Out Bandit and your superiors clearly believe this to be another dead-end lead. You cuff him and take him with you so that he's easier to dispose of once you get the loot. You don't leave him at the hotel. He might change his mind and flee while you're at the storage facility.
Also, writers want us to believe this guy stole $9 million over several years and never spent even one penny of it? LMAO. This, much like the plot of Blood Brother (2018), is probably the most farcical and insulting aspect of the entire dumb plot.
As heist movies go, or really any movie, scriptwriters here must think audience members are pretty braindead because the plot of this movie is so asinine and cringeworthy, Honest Thief isn't very watchable. Plus, not much of what the characters do make any damn sense in real life.
This movie's problems are numerous. First off, Dolan robbed twelve banks over an extended number of years and authorities and the media obviously knew his modus operandi enough to dub him the In-and Out Bandit. So, why wasn't he caught sooner? I ask because Dolan's requirements for which bank he would target are so specific there's no way he wouldn't have been caught prior to robbing twelve banks. He always selects banks in small towns with a specific, older type of vault that is easier to crack than modern vaults and the banks ALWAYS have an adjoining vacant building through which he gains access to the bank. In addition, Dolan only does the heists during a 3-day weekend. Question: How often would such specific opportunities come together for Dolan to pull off the perfect heist? Answer: Very rarely. So, the FBI would have been all over this and figured out he was using adjoining vacant buildings to gain access to banks after, like, his third or forth successful robbery. They would have issued a memo to all older banks in small towns to inform the FBI when adjoining buildings go vacant and those banks would have been under heavy surveillance during every 3-day holiday. Dolan would have long ago been caught.
But what's worse about this plot is that Dolan claims he plasters the walls and paints after the heist so that authorities don't know how he got into the bank. Well, duh, it still wouldn't take long to figure out he got in via the vacant adjoining building! Also, even if he could plaster/patch the wall (and match the paint color perfectly) on the vacant building's side of the hole in the wall, how did he do the same on the bank's side of the wall? The answer is he would not be able to plaster, patch, and paint the hole on the bank's side of the wall and so, authorities would have known from day one how he got "in and out" of the bank (pun intended).
As for Dolan's motive for robbing banks? He did it initially to get back at the corrupt CEO who made off with his dead father's pension. Yes, this is pretty stupid. Because even if you rob a bank where the CEO of the company your dad worked for keeps his money, you're not taking the CEO's money directly, you're taking the bank's money. Any money you steal from the bank will likely be replace via the bank's blanket bond or some other form of insurance. What did Dolan think? The bank would have a vault just for the CEO with his name on it where he keeps hard cash? LMAO. NO! Plus would a CEO, even an unscrupulous one, keep all his money in a small town bank in the first place? Wouldn't he diversify his money in various investments instead or bank at a private bank for high-net-worth individuals which is not likely to have a branch in a small town? How stupid do the writers of this film think the average viewer is? Honestly?
Also, why would you attempt to turn yourself in from a hotel? If you're trying to work out a deal in return for giving back the entire $9 million, doing it from a hotel gives you no better advantage than doing it from the FBI facility. Those low-level FBI agents wouldn't be the ones that could broker him a deal anyway. Has this guy Dolan ever watched any legal drama or crime drama series on TV? SMH. It's the prosecutor and your criminal defense lawyer who would do that, and, hello, you're no where near that step yet when just turning yourself in!
Also, if you're a crooked FBI agent planning to steal the $9 million your suspect is leading you to in a nearby storage facility, why wouldn't you bring him along when he said he's turning himself in if your ultimate goal is to kill the suspect? You've already had twelve individuals falsely claim to be the In-and-Out Bandit and your superiors clearly believe this to be another dead-end lead. You cuff him and take him with you so that he's easier to dispose of once you get the loot. You don't leave him at the hotel. He might change his mind and flee while you're at the storage facility.
Also, writers want us to believe this guy stole $9 million over several years and never spent even one penny of it? LMAO. This, much like the plot of Blood Brother (2018), is probably the most farcical and insulting aspect of the entire dumb plot.