After the Sunset (2004)

This is a light, happy-go-lucky movie set mostly on Nassau in the Bahamas. Meet Max and Lola, two diamond thieves who have retired to this idyllic location to spend their loot. The problem is Stan, a shambolic, rather wild-eyed FBI agent who has been outwitted by them for years. Not content with letting them enjoy their retirement, he shows up on their (beachfront) doorstep and proceeds to lure them into another big heist. Lola's content with watching sunsets, but Max still has the bug. Will he take the bait? Complications arise because of the involvement of two locals: beautiful cop Sophie and bad guy Henri Mooré.

This movie was enjoyable enough as summer television-like movie, but it doesn't go much deeper than that. There's not a lot of realism and art here. It was like a television movie.

I don't know what makes television movies different from regular movies. Is it the writing? The plot development? The acting? They have a certain cliché nature, don't they? At times this movie definitely had the cheesiness and artificiality of television shows like the Love Boat and To Catch a Thief. That's not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of people love that kind of thing. It's not too demanding. And it's fun. People were laughing.

I suppose part of the problem for me was, well, Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson. I just couldn't see these two with Salma Hayek and Naomie Harris, respectively. Isn't the age difference a little too much? Is it wrong for me to point out that -- unlike the women they were with -- these two were (by 2004) no longer hot enough to generate heat in their love scenes?

I have seen these two actors deliver outstanding performances. They are strong enough to pull off a film like this in their sleep. However, I am just not interested in them enough to spend two hours watching their buddy antics (drinking, fishing, even in bed). They are not lovable fun characters to me, although I think that's the effect the director was trying to achieve. These scenes were too forced. I saw no buddy chemistry.

There was a good deal of wise-cracking (eg "I knew that when I married you. I knew that when I divorced you!") and slapstick (eg Stan gets hit in the head by a trombone.) The scuba scenes and the cruise ship scenes at the end were not believable, not that I think this movie's intended audience would care about that. It's all meant to be part of the fun.

The person I was with walked out of the film halfway through. I thought it was OK. I mean, I didn't hate it.

Fmovies: Opening with a scene at a professional basketball game, we quickly find, as do observing FBI agents, that we've been had. The die is cast; 'After the Sunset' will provide a series of feints and jabs, dodges and weavings that will prove to be less edifying than some great jewel heist films of the past. But we still are treated to enough satisfying moments to say this is a pretty good film.

Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) and his girlfriend Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek) are in retirement, having stepped down from the ranks of the international jewel thief set, and are enjoying the good life in the Bahamas. Woody Harrelson (as FBI agent Stan Lloyd) has appeared on the scene; he is less sure they have retired and with the arrival in port of a ship-borne display of jewels (featuring 'The Third Napoleon Diamond' in the collection) has them under close watch.

Agent Lloyd has always been thwarted in capturing Max and Lola; this is personal. How the characters play against each other (various local officials become interested and ultimately involved as well) as the clock ticks (the ship is due to leave soon) elevates our interest. Don Cheadle (local crime boss Kingpin) is a key figure among the Bahamians with influence on the outcome.

Jewel heist in paradise. That might be a working title for a script which would become the film 'After the Sunset'. Writer Paul Zbyszewski (previous experience on TV's 'The Weakest Link') has fashioned a reasonably believable story line (see Roger Ebert for discussion of plot holes - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041111/REVIEWS/41006006/1023) involving electro-technical moments, great use of locations, wry humor (Woody Harrelson does go over the top in some mugging moments, but overall is quite engaging), and certainly deserves another opportunity to develop a script.

A killer cast of capable actors is expected to deliver and does. No doubt the script could have been terser, the lines more memorable or the plot more believable. We don't get all of the sheer class of the recent 'Ocean's Eleven', the raw energy of 'The Italian Job' or the gut laughs of 'Team America: World Police'. But Salma Hayek works her minimal exposure maximally (her physical charms alone are arresting), Brosnan is an interesting study in this a more laid back role than we are accustomed to seeing from him and Don Cheadle proves again he can do anything, including portray what for all intents is a gangster.

In an interview on the set of the film in January, director Brett Ratner notes about how he saw this as more a 'character-driven movie' and not just a 'big action heist'. He further notes that in taking on the task of balancing all the elements – comedy, action/adventure, drama - 'It's more of a challenge for me. Can I do a movie like this and get the tone right? If it's too broad, you don't care about the characters. If it's too serious, it's just a dramatic film and you then don't care.' (http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=3457)

'After The Sunset' is one of those films you just want to work and because you do redemption is sought in what probably are the small things. This jewel heist caper is a little above the cut of customary plex fare, and the nearly full theater of attentive viewers speaks to the dearth of just plain old decent films at the moment. We were not disappointed, and maybe agree the director CAN do a film like this.<

Someone commenting in these pages put it better when he said that we could rehash this film, analyze it, and make it into what it was not intended to be, but the fact remains that if we had a pleasant time while we were watching, it was well worth the price of admission.

Director Brett Ratner seems to be having great fun directing the movie. He was lucky to get the genius of Dante Spinetti's cinematography to create a movie that is entertaining with great locations. It's a good excuse, as any, to spend time in the theater. While Mr. Ratner is not breaking new ground in this genre, he makes "After the Sunset" fun to watch.

Pierce Brosnan is his usually suave self. His take on Max is to play it with an economy of gestures, as though he is bored by being told what to do. Salma Hayek, on the other hand, adds a beautiful presence to the proceedings without being too obvious. Woody Harrelson is a goofy FBI agent. Heaven help us if they ever are this dumb! Don Cheadle doesn't have much to do, as his character looks as though he was an after thought.

Just pretend you are on vacation in the Bahamas. Nassau never looked this good before!

After the Sunset fmovies. A movie with the great Pierce Brosnan can't go wrong really, everything he does, he makes look effortlessly cool.

The story about the diamond heist though, seems secondary to the beautiful locations, and Brett Ratner's obcession with filming Miss Hayek's chest from all conceivable angles (not necessarily a bad thing). Although Hayek is SO botoxed that she can barely move her facial muscles to express any kind of emotion.

Woody Harrelson and Brosnan make a really funny team, and if they make a sequel, I hope it concentrates on their two characters, because they have a great screen chemistry.

This movie gets high marks for five things and low marks for three, so overall it's a keeper.

THE GOOD - (1) A very colorful film, with wonderful bright colors from the Bahamas scenery; (2) an interesting story right from the get-go; (3) originality in the story; and (4) yes, to be honest, Hayak's figure, which is seen in abundance throughout the film. She knows it's good and isn't shy about showing it, and (5) overall a good mixture of crime, comedy, romance and suspense and just right amount of time at just under 100 minutes.

THE BAD - (1) Insulting gratuitous sex and really stupid sexual dialog at times; (2) once again subversive Hollywood making the FBI character a moron, for the most part; (3) some Rambo mentality (bad guys miss from close range, good guys never miss, etc.).

It's an outlandish story but don't analyze it for credibility or you'd be turned off and quit after 10 minutes. Just go along for the ride and enjoy the entertainment....and entertaining it is!

This is a somewhat entertaining cat and mouse thriller with Brosnan, Hayek and Harrelson at the top of their game. The film starts out promisingly enough with a diamond heist which is more slapstick than suspenseful.

After the heist Harrelson follows the pair to an island where he believes they plan another big job. As the two male characters get more closely acquainted throughout the film we start to wonder who's tricking who.

Brosnan displays rare emotion in this film. Harrelson escapes his Cheers role by excellently portraying the many sides of what would have been a simple character.Hayek doesn't miss a chance to show off her body, and Don Cheadle's villain was superb. The only problem with that character was that we didn't see enough of him.

The film has some nice scenery and entertaining scenes, particularly the shark capture.Rush hour director Ratner has made a great film, which only really lacks style and good pacing. this film would have been better handled in the reins of, say, Steven Soderbergh.

But nonetheless, a very funny enjoyable film which will please fans of the cast and crew, as well as the movie-going public. It's not up to the standard of Oceans's eleven yet it beats the likes of Ocean's 12. Any fan of the comedy/thriller genre should go see this film, but I will be looking more forward to Rush Hour 3.