Curvaceous Catherine Cons Connery
What happens when James Bond retires? Well he becomes a master thief or at least that's what Sean Connery does in "Entrapment" playing a cool, collected charmer not too dissimilar to how he played James Bond. But "Entrapment" is no James Bond movie, it wants to be an action packed, sexy thriller where two master thieves tangle, tease and double cross each other. Unfortunately whilst it may want to be those things it never manages to be more than average in any of them, making "Entrapment" an entertaining but distinctly mediocre and for the most forgettable movie with the exception of various scenes which focus on Connery's co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones's shapely figure.
After the theft of a high value piece of artwork from a secure location, insurance agent Virginia Baker (Catherine Zeta-Jones - The Mask of Zorro) convinces her boss to allow her to go undercover to trap the master thief Mac (Sean Connery - The Rock) who they suspect of the crime. Whilst Mac is initially suspicious of Virginia, she gains his confidence as they work together to pull off an audacious robbery of a highly prized mask. But as they get set to pull another heist, the heist to beat all heists things become complex as they get duplicitous.
To put it simply "Entrapment" wants to be a thrilling heist movie which twists and turns so that whilst you get plenty of action you are not entirely sure as to who is basically screwing who. Right from the opening scene we are not sure who is the master thief behind the audacious art robbery and this element of not knowing what is what and who is who flows through out the movie. We are introduced to insurance agent Virginia who goes undercover to try and trap Mac, but is she in fact a master thief herself, then there is Thibadeux who helps out Mac and what about insurance agent Hector Cruz. The whole of "Entrapment" seems to be built around this not knowing but it seems to spiral out of control as it tries to keep you guessing. The storyline becomes more and more contrived in order to squeeze in another twist which by the time the truth comes out you've given up caring as to who is screwing who.
Then there is the action side to "Entrapment", the audacious robberies, the techno wizardry to descend buildings and all the practicing to make sure that Mac and Virginia are ready to pull of a big job. The trouble is that none of the action is that exciting and it seems that director Jon Amiel is more focussed on making the action sexy by focusing on Catherine Zeta-Jones's curves in figure hugging outfits such as in the scene where we watch her shapely bum dip under a laser beam. Unfortunately whilst Zeta-Jones is incredibly sexy it ends up making the action quite cheesy and as such less than spectacular. In fact the best action sequence is the opening scene and the audacious art robbery from high up on a skyscraper. Once that scene is out of the way the rest of the action isn't so much laborious but over sexed and lacking adrenalin.
What also doesn't help matters is that whilst Sean Connery brings along some James Bond style charm to the role of Mac he seems to be walking through "Entrapment". There is absolutely no energy to his performance seemingly relying on the onscreen persona which he has cultivated over the years which sadly means that when there is a moment of action he doesn't really do anything. But Connery is not totally to blame as he is teamed up with Catherine Zeta-Jones who whilst giving her character some energy seems to be struggling to make her more than just a secy character who tantalizes the eyes. Although I don't think Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones are really at fault as it feels like they are working with quite a dull script and a director who realising this ends up focusing on the flirtatious relationship and Zeta-Jones's sexy body. You just have to watch that slowed down scene where she rehearses sliding between lengths of wool to realise that Amiel capitalized on Zeta-Jones's sexuality.
What this all boils down to is that "Entrapment" is an entertaining but less than spectacular movie. It tries hard to be clever and action packed but ends up becoming overly contrived as it adds one twist upon another. Even the action is less than spectacular with a distinct lack of adrenalin and whilst Catherine Zeta-Jones is incredibly sexy watching the camera track her curvaceous figure is not enough to make "Entrapment" more than just average.
