Honest Thief – Subpar Action-Neeson or A Fine Random TV Watch

Ever since 2008’s Taken, the Liam Neeson action movie has essentially become its own subgenre. This subgenre for the most part sees Neeson playing subtle variations of the same character who all seem to have a contrived set of skills that consistently come in handy in taking on the same nondescript bad guys with little to no story connecting it all whatsoever but everyone just wants to see Neeson doing his thing. While that has been often enough, providing enough reason to continue churning out these films, this admittedly does get old and repetitive. Though Honest Thief may not be a masterpiece by any means, that schtick was still enough to provide a solid watch, just not an overly memorable one as it will inevitably meld with the many other films within the subgenre. That being said, audiences simply have to set their expectations low and turn their brains off in order to fully enjoy what the film has to offer which is not that much when you really think about it (but when has that ever stopped anyone?).

In the latest attempt of pulling something out of nothing, Honest Thief follows a reformed bank robber named Tom Dolan (Neeson) whose wish to turn himself in got thwarted by a pair of questionable FBI agents. Formally known as the infamous In-and-Out-Bandit with $9 million in earnings, Dolan chose to throw it all away after falling in love with a woman named Annie (Walsh). However, the life he was lining up for himself was put in jeopardy at the hands of the young and underappreciated Agent Nivens (Courtney) and Agent Hall (Anthony Ramos). According to them, more so Nivens than Hall, they were simply out to get what they thought they deserved. As a result, on top of wanting to turn himself in, Dolan would have to clear his name. Now it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that the film offers little to no depth whatsoever in setting up Dolan vs. Nivens and Hall which was not nearly as exciting as it sounds.

That battle forced Dolan to use his particular set of skills to counteract what was essentially a dull conspiracy. Despite that, it did give birth to some decent moments which in and of themselves were vintage action Neeson but in the end, it was just hard to care about anything he does or the story and the character as a whole as this film brings absolutely nothing new or original to the table as these have been done for the most part in countless other films. While this isn’t necessarily that big of a negative, the fact that Nivens and Hall didn’t provide much of a challenge beyond cheesy platitudes didn’t help the film’s case. Not to mention, the film is predictable to a tee. Its arguable only saving grace was its short running time, clocking in at around the 90 minute mark. Those looking for a quick, mindless, unchallenging watch to mostly have in the background won’t go wrong here. Honest Thief is surely destined to randomly appear on television at some point with all the other Neeson action films that check all those boxes.

Ultimately, the best part of Honest Thief and what keeps it watchable was Neeson as Dolan. Though the story and script are mediocre, seeing Neeson do his thing once again still somewhat works so much so that it almost distracts from the subpar film that surrounded him. As far as everyone else was concerned, they were just there. While the same argument could be made for Neeson who merely goes through the motions in these action films for the paycheque, his screen presence still goes a long way. Whatever runway he has left remains to be seen but it has to be running out soon.

Though a decent watch, just wait for it to randomly show up on TV.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.