Entrapment
20th Century Fox, 1999
Directed by John Amiel

$$

The worst thing you can say about a thriller is that it doesn't thrill. Entrapment doesn't.

Sure, Sean Connery is still The Man. Sure, he still has the charisma to pull off action roles. But this movie doesn't let him loose. This time he seems a little feeble, and actually shows his age. Connery himself was one of the producers, so he must've thought allowing that was a good idea. It wasn't. Connery also appears to have sensed that romancing co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones, who's young enough to be his granddaughter, might appear unseemly. It would explain why the script has his character resisting her advances -- for most of the movie anyway. It may be more romantic that way, but the result is a James Bond movie without the action, the intrigue or the sex.

The 007 surrogate this time is Robert MacDougal, a Scottish cat burglar who lives in a castle beside a loch. Zeta-Jones (The Mask of Zorro) plays an insurance investigator sent to catch him. She tells him she's a thief and together they plan one big heist, then another. The biggest scheme: to take advantage of the Y2K bug and electronically steal billions at the stroke of midnight, 2000. (Get used to this -- there are several more action films coming out this year with December 31, 1999 as a backdrop.)

There are a few twists, but nothing surprising. The finale, set on Millennium Eve in the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the world's tallest building, has some tense moments. Ving Rhames, as another MacDougal accomplice, also steals every scene he's in (hell, he's so good, he probably stole the props and much of the lighting equipment while he was at it). The cinematography resembles nothing so much as a Visa ad. Really, the only reason to see this movie is for Zeta-Jones. Not only is she gorgeous, she can act. Her looks also allow you to easily forgive the few times when her American accent sounds phony. She has the kind of dark and sensuous beauty you could look at all day. The movie at least lets you look at her for a couple hours.

(c) Copyright 1999