Art Heist

This effort was like a glitzy TV movie...I don't recall this ever being released in theaters...If so, it must've died a quick death. Watching the DVD, in the comfort of our bedroom, it was obvious this film was meant for not much more...Ed Lauter an art critic with a greed streak? What a fun turn that must've been...I haven't seen Ed since "The Longest Yard"...Everyone else pretty much acted by the numbers, led by Baldwin, except for Pompeo...She had zero charisma and seemed to be sleepwalking thru most of the picture...Pompeo's daughter had one dimension...she played every scene like a lovable little puppy...slowest line delivery of any 3 year old I've seen yet...

The chase scenes gave my wife and I headaches...too much quick-cutting and angle-bashing...If you 're going to shoot a chase scene in Barcelona, you might want a few WIDE shots to exploit the beauty of your backdrop, right? The whole story was pretty implausible and far-fetched, but hey, we liked it better than "The Life Aquatic..."

Although in many ways I agree with the other reviewers comments. I find that the plot and idea are very good. Many of the supporting actors were very good. The fatal problem with this film is Ellen Pompeo. I am sure, I have never seen a less talented "actor" How this person has ever been in a film or on television, I cannot imagine. In my opinion she would be better as a greater at a Wal-Mart. To see a person with this low level of talent involved in paying roles, does beg the question...... "Who does she know"? I would very much like to see this film re-made with some talent. I do not fault the writer for the failure of this film to be worth the time to view it.

Baldwin has really stooped low to make such movies. The script, the music, just about everything in this movie is a waste of time.

The sound FX do not sound real, they stick out way too much (technical gadgets etc.) If they are trying to make a movie about things like this, at least try to get real with it and drop those extra bleeps and beeps, because those gadgets don't really make loud sounds like that. Natural sounds like footsteps and such are non-existent, which gives it a void-like atmosphere.

Directing seems to be OK for such a low budget film (I sure hope it was a low budget production), although it does seem fairly amateurish at times.

Most characters seem empty and false, they simply haven't casted this movie very well. I'd imagine it would've been a better idea to make Baldwin speak some Spanish than to make Spanish actors speak English, when we all know that theirs is the language which is more vibrant and alive, that is why the actors performance can suffer greatly if an odd language is used. I mean, could finally someone realise how stupid it sounds to make international actors speak English with a bad accent? It's should've a long ago buried corpse in movie production. The production team ever heard of subtitles? This movie again manages to depict European police as lazy and corrupt, the societies as vulnerable and helpless. I mean if the plot again goes like "The Interpol can't do jack, so let's call one American to bring down this international syndicate" or whatever.

Sony Pictures treads on the same path as Columbia before it, just producing movies for the hell of it. I'd imagine them to have some self respect also. Are buyers supposed to buy every dirty title just because Sony puts out something good a few times a year?! Maybe they should've used the same team as who were making Di Que Si - Say I Do. It's spoken in Spanish and Paz Vega and Santi Millan do a decent job keeping the movie afloat. Looks and sounds much better! Come on Sony, wake up, produce less, sell more.

one may ask why? the characters snarl, yell, and chew the scenery without any perceptible reason except someone wanted to make a movie in barcelona. billie baldwin, is that the right one?, is forgettable in the cop/estranged-husband/loving-father-of-cute-little-blond-girl role. the story seems to have been cut and pasted from the scenes thrown away from adventure films in the last three years. ellen pompeo's lack of charisma is a black hole that seems to suck the energy out of every scene she is in. her true acting range is displayed when she takes her blouse off as the movies careens from one limp chase scene to another. unfortunately, the directing rarely goes bad enough to be camp or a parody. it is all just cliché, familiar in every respect. the director cast his own daughter as the precocious brat probably because no respectable agent would have permitted a client to ruin a career by being in such a lame, contrived and uninteresting movie. the only heist here is the theft of the investor's money and the viewer's time.

The quality of "Art Heist" is exactly what one should expect from a direct-to-video title with no A-list actors. The plot is predictable, the twists are both expected and excessive, the acting is deficient, and the action is banal. However, it manages to be entertaining in spite of its flaws, and ultimately fulfills expectations, provided those expectations are low.

The plot actually had some promise but is ultimately crippled by the "shocking reveals" that fail to surprise or even engage much interest. Every single twist is painfully described and explained by monologues and flashbacks, even though someone with severe sleep deprivation (me) could fully comprehend each one long before it happened. The script further detracts from the plot by adding dull and unrealistic dialogue, portrayed in an implausible manner according to the amateurish directing. Tropes and clichés abound, from the flower cart in the chase sequence to William Baldwin's channeling of John McClane, and plot holes larger than the escape pod in Star Wars will frequently cause exclamations of, "Wait, why didn't they..."

As far as the acting, quite frankly, not one of these actors should hold any more than a bit part in any film. Ellen Pompeo is cute and Baldwin gives hope simply because he looks like brother Alec, and perhaps they could do fine with a decent script and nonpareil directing, but believing in their characters (or almost any other character) requires a suspension of disbelief beyond my abilities. The worst of all is the couple's "adorable blond girl," portrayed by the director's daughter in a performance unworthy of a 3rd grade school play (to put it nicely). On the bright side, the actors with two lines or fewer do fine, and Simón Andreu stands out as quietly plausible in his role as a Russian mobster/ art connoisseur.

The main redemption of this film comes from the visuals and sound. Not from the explosions or the ridiculous sound effects, but from the beautiful aerial shots of Barcelona, exquisite interiors, depictions of the art (although limited), and the touching rendition of Mozart's "Introitus Requiem." And it tries so hard to keep viewers in suspense and invested in the characters (or at least in the stolen paintings), that one cannot help feeling slightly entertained.

If you want to see a masterpiece or a useful addition to the genre, you will be disappointed. If you just want to see some blood and boobs with an R rating, you will be disappointed. If you appreciate art and hope to see a film that does the same, well, you will be disappointed. However, if you, like me, simply want to watch something because you're bored, insomniac, out of good movies, and looking to be occupied and mildly amused, then this may be worth your time, if not your money. I love heist movies, from "Flawless" to "The Fast and the Furious," so I don't regret wasting 98 minutes on this film.