Den of Thieves 2018
by
Christian gudegast
LA is supposed to be the bank robbery capital of the
world.IN the early 90s ,the number of robberies peaked at around 2700 every
year,which has come down to 250-300 per
year now.Each count of robbery carries statutory maximum of 20 years punishment,whereas
armed robbery can pack you away for
25.Punitive fear of law does work.Liberals don’t know shit.
Den of Thieves is a bank heist film ,and as it turns out is
heavily inspired by Heat (cant blame the director).But Michael Mann had Al and
Bob at his disposal,and Gudegast had to make do with Big Man Buttler and Pablo
Schreiber.The director has adopted the same spilt narrative focussing on both the gang’s end of action as well as the
enforcement’s efforts to counter it.The gang manages to loot nothing less than
the Federal Reserve ,and obviously you have to allow some suspension of
disbelief .The genre demands such relaxation,as it craves for loud
shootouts,violent encounters,bullets being sprayed thick and fast,cops and
criminals dropping dead on the side of the street,all at a quick pace.But
surely the director takes the logic too far.One cant expect LA cops to initiate
shootouts during urban traffic jams.Again this is America we are talking
about.Maybe such incidents did happen in the early 90s.
The director has tried to give Gerald a well rounded role,an
effort which has not borne fruit.Here is a detective from the elite crimes unit
of the LA Sheriff Deptt,who has no qualms about breaking
law,flouting procedure and act like a desperado himself.His marriage has
crumbled,daughters have been taken away from him,and hell Gerald even finds
time to shed some tears in this very
long film (140 minutes).
The film cud have been worked well had Pablo Schreiber been
a little less wooden.50 cent has played his role of the mastermind with
understated aplomb.The shootouts cud have been a little more realistic.There
could have been a little more buildup.Gerald shud either have been made a flat
character,or else his story been handled in a better fashion.If the film had to
be this long,there shud have been some fireworks between Gerald and the
antagonist.Despite all this,the film is watchable.The lovers of the genre might
find all the usual tropes in it to justify atleast a single viewing .Just dunt
compare it with HEAT.Such motion pictures get made once in 20 years.
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