Cash Out
Cash Out
Is there anything worse in cinema history than heist films? Just kidding, there is no debate as Full Metal Jacket has already been deemed as the worst. Well, so far, Cash Out has not crowned any such film as the worst, but it does raise questions. If you’ve been waiting for the perfect marriage between a heist movie and the current rush for more heist movies using cryptocurrency and the likes, your wait is over. Well at least that’s what “Cash Out” promises to do, but sadly leaves much to be desired.
The film’s plot and overall direction lacks drama and suspense as it eases into the world of shallow and baseless clichés that have become unwritten rules of any film of this genre. The premise of this film is fairly typical: the main character plans to retire after executing one last contract. Funny enough, this is probably how Travolta originally got the role for his character in the film as well.
In his efforts to engage the audience in “Cash Out”, the actor, like an aging baseball player desperately trying to compete against the younger generation, provides nothing fresh. Here, he behaves like Mason Goddard, one who is joined by his insatiable woman giving him several ulterior motives Amelia Decker (Kristin Davis) as they land at a posh event in their private jet for a mission to steal a few ‘million-dollar’ cars. Even though this was presumably meant to impart a feeling of affluence, the shoestring production makes both characters and the film feel cheap to excessive at the outset. Yet it appears to be a rather straightforward task considering Mason’s crew is reasonably experienced, but Amelia destroys everything when she pulls a weapon on him and declares that her heart has belonged to the FBI the entire time. The apparent ‘betrayal’ was unexpected to him, probably because he hasn’t watched the introductory scene of a heist film before.
Via Plan B, he and his team manage to escape capture. It consists of diving into the water while their enemies are watching them and expecting immediately the cops would call off the search, which, for no apparent reason, they do. For our battle-weary team leader, this combination of loss and disappointment is enough to retire him from active duty but as always, it is only temporary since young brother Shawn (Lukas Haas), who carries a pretty good Fredo ring, has one real final project for him. Just when he thought he was out…
This only tagline creates a drab sense of a story that sounds like an octave configuration of a famous film about a world famous thief. Fear not because, the likes of Mason’s “underlings” due to presence of police are expected to firmly say “we’ve got company” and wondering to yourself why one is not bothered watching “Heat”. If some sort of familiarity or even sameness exists, then, it should have been for clever construction of inventive pieces that however are clearly missing as even the bank robbery in ‘Cash Out” is pathetic.
While it is abundantly clear that this heist was ill-advised from the beginning, it is even more apparent that Mason is still in love with his ex-wife, who, despite her treachery, is destined to become the negotiator for a quick end to a situation that becomes known as a hostage crisis.
Instead of, for example, demanding her captives’ peaceful surrender, our protagonist decides to ask her if she has had a workout instead. Ridiculous, yes, but it also results in the only dialogues that make this film different from any of its innumerable predecessors in the genre.
Mason’s attitude on the job is one of an I’m-not-even-supposed-to-be-here, so he manages to turn his hostages into unwilling guests rather than beat them into submission. One would think that this is how things are done in such scenes, of which there is a sizeable number in most films, and yes, it helps alleviate one of the major problems of the film: the overall urgency. While Mason deals with a job he never asked for in the first place, aiming to reunite with his estranged partner, the film doesn’t demand much in energy and seriousness from the viewers.
What is fitting, however, is the fact that the safe-deposit box in the center of attention is not a goldmine but rather a Pandora’s box — its owner and, more importantly, the specifics of what it contains seem to be a headache even without trying to open it. The same goes for ‘Cash Out’ as it is known, the ratio of risk to reward is not worth the attempts of being dragged back in.
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- Genre: Action
- Country: United States
- Director: Randall Emmett
- Cast: John Travolta, Kristin Davis, Lukas Haas
