Three young friends have an unusual hobby : they cook up ambitious heist plans, purely by way of mental exercise. Their activities attract the attention of a genuine crime boss looking for exciting new talent to exploit...
"Foolproof" is one of the lesser-known heist movies. The tone, which is light-hearted and flippant in the beginning, gradually darkens as the stakes grow higher. The intrigue is not without a puzzle-like charm : the audience sits backs and watches the various pieces of the puzzle arrange themselves into a coherent whole. On the other hand the intrigue feels quite contrived too. It is full of the kind of pseudo-clever planning where the success of the scheme depends on person X or person Y doing EXACTLY as predicted : let person X carry an extra revolver or let person Y open a briefcase five minutes later than foreseen and the whole thing will collapse. It is doubtful whether many real-life individuals, however confident and adventurous, would be willing to embark upon such an overly vulnerable enterprise, especially if the price of failure might consist of a lethal fall down an elevator shaft. "Foolproof", by the way, might want to explain just how and why its three heist hobbyists became both versatile athletes and accomplished renaissance (wo)men.
The acting is pleasant and David Suchet, in particular, gives a nicely chilling performance as an intelligent career criminal with a liking for blackmail and manipulation. Tempting to think of the same character evolving in a much more psychologically profound crime drama...
If you, dear reader, like the heist genre you can take a gander at a few other movies, serious or comical, that deserve attention : "Loophole", "4 Schlüssel", "Mélodie en sous-sol", "Faites sauter la banque" and "La grosse caisse". Enjoy !
"Foolproof" is one of the lesser-known heist movies. The tone, which is light-hearted and flippant in the beginning, gradually darkens as the stakes grow higher. The intrigue is not without a puzzle-like charm : the audience sits backs and watches the various pieces of the puzzle arrange themselves into a coherent whole. On the other hand the intrigue feels quite contrived too. It is full of the kind of pseudo-clever planning where the success of the scheme depends on person X or person Y doing EXACTLY as predicted : let person X carry an extra revolver or let person Y open a briefcase five minutes later than foreseen and the whole thing will collapse. It is doubtful whether many real-life individuals, however confident and adventurous, would be willing to embark upon such an overly vulnerable enterprise, especially if the price of failure might consist of a lethal fall down an elevator shaft. "Foolproof", by the way, might want to explain just how and why its three heist hobbyists became both versatile athletes and accomplished renaissance (wo)men.
The acting is pleasant and David Suchet, in particular, gives a nicely chilling performance as an intelligent career criminal with a liking for blackmail and manipulation. Tempting to think of the same character evolving in a much more psychologically profound crime drama...
If you, dear reader, like the heist genre you can take a gander at a few other movies, serious or comical, that deserve attention : "Loophole", "4 Schlüssel", "Mélodie en sous-sol", "Faites sauter la banque" and "La grosse caisse". Enjoy !