Review: After the Sunset

Posted by: Dean Kish  •  November 12, 2004 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

How many jewel heist films do we need? Do we need another heist film with Pierce Brosnan?

After the Sunset chronicles what happens when Max Burdett (Brosnan), a shifty jewel thief, gets away with the perfect crime and retires to the tropics with his lover, Lola (Salma Hayek). Along for the ride is disgraced FBI agent Stan Lloyd (Woody Harrelson), who brings Burdett a heist he can't possibly refuse. The question is, is Burdett suave enough to pull off this grand heist while Stan is looking? Will Lola work with Burdett on it?

The bantering between Brosnan and Harrelson is uproariously funny and makes a lot of the more dismal scenes bearable. This is probably the only enjoyable aspect of the film at all.

I felt really sorry for Salma Hayek, who seems to be reduced to cleavage, cleavage, and jiggles when â€" after seeing her in Frida â€" I know she can be such a great actress. Here we have a beautiful, talented, and interesting actress who seemed to have overcome these kinds of roles. It is an utter shame.

I also felt sorry for Don Cheadle as the paradise gangster who has something to gain from Brosnan's latest heist. The man is an amazing actor, but here he is reduced to a cliché draped in nearly naked nymphets and sputtering useless, laughable dialogue. I will have to wait and see Hotel Rwanda before I get to see a role worthy of the actor, or so I assume.

There are so many things wrong with After the Sunset that it's hard to find what I liked about the film. I wanted it to be clever and thrilling, like Brosnan's remake of the The Thomas Crown Affair was, except this seems to be more of an after thought.

I was hoping to see more from all the talent and some exciting sequences from director Brett Ratner, but instead I got nothing more than fizzle. I am talking The Big Bounce kind of fizzle â€" if anyone even remembers that film from earlier this year. (2 out of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.