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Entrapment |
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Let it suffice to say that people are rarely who
they seem to be in this occasionally thrilling
"thriller" about a master art thief and the
beautiful woman who could be: a) a fellow
heist-meister seeking his help on a big caper;
b) an insurance investigator out to catch him
in the act; or c) both. The pair retreat to Mac's
remote castle on the Scottish Isles to train in
Karate Kid fashion for their first big
job—stealing a priceless Asian artifact (their
high-tech gizmos steal the show). But this is
just an appetizer. The main course involves
breaking into an 84-story high Malaysian bank
on the eve of the millennium and electronically
transferring $8 billion into a private account.
Along the way, Mac and Gin try to stay focused
despite a growing attraction to one another,
and vacillate over whether there really
is any honor among thieves. The final
ten minutes turn into a cinematic shell game
as identities and motives rapidly unfold.
Positive Elements: Mac resists
being seduced by Gin. He looks out for her
safety and, when they're cornered by
authorities with only one parachute between
them, he gives it to her. There is no sex. Not a
single person is murdered.
Sexual Content: The curvaceous
Gin appears in several form-fitting outfits. Mac
first confronts her in her hotel room where she
is sleeping in the nude (she sits up and he
apparently sees her bare breasts, though the
nudity is just implied to the audience). She
later comes on to him with passionate kisses,
but he stops her before it goes too far.
Simmering sexual tension oozes from Gin's
boss, Cruz, who seems to take too personal
an interest in her. A painting features a
bare-breasted woman.
Violent Content: A man holds a
knife to Gin's throat, inspiring her to smash a
large vase over his head. He recovers and
fires shots at Mac and Gin as they drive off.
The roof of their car gets stabbed by a
knife-wielding attacker. Convinced that Gin is
trying to doublecross him, Mac grabs her by
the hair and holds her underwater until she
comes clean about her intentions. Gin
assaults Mac with a metal briefcase.
Authorities fire weapons at the fleeing thieves,
including a rocket launcher that releases
noxious gas. In an escape ploy, Gin takes Mac
"hostage" and holds a gun to his head.
Crude or Profane Language: A
dozen or so profanities appear in heated
flurries. Thibadeaux uses the f-word twice.
There are several exclamations of "oh my god"
and one inappropriate use of Jesus'
name.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mac
and Gin drink whiskey and beer on several
occasions.
Other Negative Elements:
Entrapment asks viewers to root for a
pair of upscale criminals. It paints law
enforcement and a worldwide banking
conglomerate as the bad guys, and two
greedy crooks as sympathetic heroes. But
unlike Robin Hood or James Bond, Mac and
Gin don't even have the misguided, yet noble
intention of robbing from the rich in order to
help the less fortunate, or stealing secrets in
the interest of national security. They're
essentially selfish, high-stakes
purse-snatchers. It should make Christians
feel extremely uncomfortable to have their
sense of morality and justice manipulated and
turned on its head. Entrapment is also
something of a "how-to" video for
well-equipped thieves.
Summary: Audiences expecting a
slam-bang action/adventure yarn may be
disappointed with the scant amount of
pulse-pounding excitement in
Entrapment. It's more of an intellectual
exercise than its 007-esque TV commercials
suggest. But its restraint is refreshing. The
film doesn't exploit violence or the sex-appeal
of its stars, but instead chooses to tease us
with more cerebral twists and turns (though
lapses in logic plague Ron Bass and William
Broyles' screenplay, which is forced to make
sense at so many levels that it fails to
truly engage). With the exception of foul
language and a misguided sense of heroism,
Entrapment could have been an
intriguing movie for teens and adults.
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