Last year, a film was released about a nice, friendly thief who committed armed robbery but never wanted to hurt people. It was called Roofman (2025). This film is also centered on a nice, friendly thief who also commits armed robbery but never wants to hurt anyone. Roofman wanted sympathy as well as empathy for its protagonist. That 2025 flick starring Channing Tatum who gave a more comedic performance did a good job with that sympathy and empathy but still had Tatum's character face consequences. It was a rather fun heist film, not far flung from Ocean's Eleven (2001) or something in that vein. This film, written and directed by Bart Layton, is not as comedic. It's more serious, which would seem to require more sympathy and empathy. Yet, strangely, far less is revealed about Layton's protagonist, which would help us to sympathize for him.
Chris Hemsworth (Extraction and The Avengers) stars as James Davis, aka "Mark," a man who is a career criminal. He specializes in stealing jewelry, especially diamonds. He has a pattern or modus operandi of how he commits his heists. One key component is that he doesn't actually hurt anybody or engages in overt acts of violence. Yes, he holds people at gunpoint and threatens them with violence, which isn't so much better. Notably, when someone shoots at him, he doesn't shoot back. Before he does a robbery, he does a lot of research to limit any violence and for a quick in and out with limited exposure. He's a very lonely man, mysterious because he doesn't share any part of his personal life. He's also socially awkward around women, despite being tall and handsome.
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight and The Avengers) co-stars as Lou Lubesnick, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department who is assigned to these jewel robberies. Lou recognizes Mike's pattern and modus operandi. Lou is a bit washed up and doesn't really have the confidence or support of his fellow detectives, like his partner, played by Corey Hawkins (The Color Purple and Straight Outta Compton). No one believes his theory about the pattern, so he's a bit frustrated. Ruffalo recently was in a crime drama on HBO called Task (2025), which hopefully gets him an Emmy nomination. In Task, he plays a similar character, a detective chasing after thieves. That series has more time to give him characterization that dives more into his family life and more personal dynamics. This film doesn't give us all that kind of characterization, but Ruffalo is such a great presence and actor that he makes lesser work.
It's not clear that Hemsworth makes lesser work. The film purposefully keeps his character and his backstory mysterious and vague. Mike literally keeps his backstory a secret from the woman he starts dating, a woman named Maya, played by Oscar-nominee Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown and Top Gun: Maverick). This becomes a plot point between Mike and Maya that evolves into a point of contention or issue for them as a couple. Unfortunately, it's a missed opportunity to delve more into Mike's past. Without it, it doesn't give Hemsworth much to play beyond stoic, tough and at times awkward. His performance is fine, but it feels limited in that he's not able to break past it like Ruffalo does.
Halle Berry (John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and X-Men) also co-stars as Sharon Colvin, an insurance agent at a high-profile, insurance company in downtown Los Angeles. She's been working there for 11 years. She makes a good amount of money, so much so that she has a very nice apartment near the beach. Like Mike and even like Lou, she's a rather lonely woman. She's not dating anyone. She doesn't seem to have friends. She goes to yoga class and attend fancy art exhibits, so it's likely she does have friends, but the film never depicts them in any significant way. What we gather is that she's highly frustrated because she's been trying to become a partner at her company for over a year or more, and her male executives haven't been letting her for sexist and possibly ageist reasons.
Despite this film being about jewel heists, this story line about Sharon and her issues at work is the best part of the narrative. The heist scenes are ostensibly the main attraction here, and those heist scenes are tense and can be energetic. Mostly, they're controlled, which is the point, but they're not all that exciting. Layton's previous feature American Animals (2018) was also a heist flick that did have more excitement because there was more characterization and personality. It was also messier, whereas this film is more polished and slick.
Barry Keoghan (Saltburn and The Banshees of Inisherin) rounds out the cast as Ormon, a fellow jewel thief who is younger than Mike and mostly rides a motorcycle. He's not as controlled or as methodical as Mike. He's sloppier. He's also way more violent and doesn't have a problem with hurting people. There isn't much characterization for his character either. Keoghan was in Layton's previous film in which he had a better role, but Keoghan makes the most of it here.
Layton's film references the work of Steve McQueen, specifically The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Bullitt (1968). Both films were Oscar-nominated and considered two of the best of their kinds. They're regarded as classics. It's always a gamble to make references like that, if you can't live up to them. If one likes those kinds of McQueen films, then one might enjoy this as well.
Rated R for language, some violence, sexual material and nudity.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 20 mins.
In theaters.