Dir Bart Layton, 2026, UK/US, 139 mins

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry

Review by Carol Allen

IThis is a classic crime thriller set in Los Angeles about the super thief and the cop who is out to get him. Master jewel thief Mike Davis (Hemsworth) is the man responsible for a series of robberies along the U.S. Route 101 along the Pacific Coast.

He has a strict Code 101 system in which no-one gets hurt. Except when one of his heists goes wrong in the film’s intriguing opening scenes, he does the classic master thief thing of planning one last mega op which will enable him to retire.

The feeling in the LAPD is that the robberies must be the work of a gang. But veteran tec Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalow) has worked out it’s the work of one man and he’s on the case. Both men get connected to Sharon Coombs (Halle Berry), who works for the corporate insurance group who have to pay out on the robberies – and she’s frustrated enough in her long battle for promotion against sexism and ageism in the company to get involved with both of them in different ways.

She is perhaps the most interesting character for female audiences. We first meet her anxiously slathering her face in anti-ageing creams – something Berry certainly doesn’t need to do. Now well into her fifties, she is absolutely beautiful and still a strong screen presence.

Ruffalo too is pushing sixty and being a bloke he can afford to look rumpled and a bit saggy and exhausted in the role – touch of Colombo there – but with brain still in good nick. Kinda sexy too.

In contrast Hemsworth is a bit bland at first, when we know nothing about him as a person. He becomes more interesting when we meet Money. played by an almost unrecognizable Nick Nolte as the man who controls him and we learn their joint history. He also reveals more of himself when he finds a girlfriend Maya (Monica Barbaro). On their first date they reject the smart restaurant where they arrange to meet and settle for cheap fast food. Bad gastronomical choice that.

Should also mention Barry Keoghan sporting dyed blond hair as the trigger-happy youngster wedded to his flash motorbike, whom Money is grooming as Mike’s replacement.

It’s all classic Hollywood crime movie stuff. You’ve seen it before but the lure is still there. Lots of driving around in fast cars, everyone being super cool, a good, strong climax and an ironic, low key and somewhat baffling final scene.

There is one other star though and that is cinematographer Erik Wilson, who makes Los Angeles look prettier than the diamonds in the heist. His swirling shots of the city skyline and particularly his aerial view of Route 101 at night with the cars strung out like so many jewels in a necklace are just gorgeous.