The pedal is pressed hard to the metal for this very stylish high-stakes armed robbery thriller starring Chris Hemsworth
Bart Layton is the British film-maker who previously gave us American Animals, a true-crime docudrama about the theft of rare books. That film’s title would also have applied perfectly well to this new one, an LA crime thriller adapted from a novella by Don Winslow. It is a little in the style of Michael Mann, though without the military hardware and the overhead shots of SUVs moving in swift convoy that would make it a full Mann homage.
Layton does without the distinctive indirect mannerisms and meta-commentaries of his earlier movies, but he applies his pedal to the metal for what is an enjoyable and very stylish high-stakes armed robbery film about a thief who is highly controlled, super-cool, super-groomed, and naturally looking for the “walkaway money” of the time-honoured one last job.
