So Liam Neeson stars in another action movie where he plays a great anti-hero. This time it’s a movie called The Honest Thief. He’s a bank robber who found love and wants to turn himself in because he feels guilty about what he did. But you can’t just simply turn yourself into the FBI and hand over the cash without some greedy FBI agent wanting to steal it and frame you for murder, hence the main plot of this movie. In the last 20 years or so, Liam Neeson has made a name for himself doing a variety of action movies we’re essentially he’s playing the same kind of character, an Anti Hero who wants to do the right thing while helping other people. Sometimes he’s The Reluctant anti-hero that gets thrown into some kind of international conspiracy. Sometimes he’s a dad who seeks revenge on those who killed his son. And let’s not forget one of the greatest action movies that he’s ever done where he’s the father of a daughter who was kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. Of course I’m talking about Taken  that also spurned a trilogy, where it has become a template for every action movie that Liam Neeson has done up to this point.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining that Liam Neeson is virtually playing the same kind of character, you can still do that and entertain moviegoers. I mean Tom Cruise has been doing that for most of his career and yet we keep watching his movies, especially the whatever latest Mission Impossible movie he’s done this week. But the Honest Thief is a little bit different, he’s not a man who knows martial arts or where pinpoint accuracy with a gun, he’s a former Marine demolition expert, who uses bombs to scare the FBI agents who framed him for murder and stole his money into confessing their crimes. I actually like that idea. And it’s a bit of a departure when it comes to the characters he usually plays in an action movie. Now Liam Neeson’s latest movie isn’t some great film that’s going to change how stories and films are made. But it is a very entertaining movie and if you are Liam Neeson fan then you will certainly enjoy it. The best part about this movie is it is a great cat and mouse game as he is basically hunting down the FBI agents while they’re hunting him and at the same time trying to protect his girlfriend played by Kate Walsh, who does a great job in the movie. I wouldn’t say that the Honest Thief is some great drama, it’s an action movie but what makes a good action movie, is the explosions and the car chases… when they’re done right as they are in The Honest Thief, you won’t be disappointed. And that’s what they truly do well with this movie.

Now like I said this isn’t some great piece of film art and it certainly has its problems as a film. The plot is a little too simplistic and it’s not hard to figure out like there’s one really bad FBI agent and a partner who’s going to be reluctant to go along with stealing money and killing their boss. It’s not hard to figure out that Liam Neeson’s character will be framed for it. I mean, I feel like we’ve seen this story before. What this movie really is, is just a cat and mouse came to see who’s going to get to the finish line alive. Will Liam Neeson’s character save his girlfriend and take down the ruthless FBI agents, I’m not going to spoil it for you, but you probably already know the answer and that’s okay because you can still enjoy the movie for what it is. I’m glad that the movie was only 90 minutes. If you make it longer than that then the movie is too long and there really isn’t any need to make it longer just to throw in some back story that’s unnecessary. Liam Neeson’s character explains why he robbed banks. And you find out that he’s not necessarily a bad guy that the reason he did it was very much in a Robin hood metaphor. That’s all I’ll say. But the biggest problem that this movie has going for it is there’s nothing truly original about it. Like I said I think we’ve seen this story before and you pretty much know what’s going to happen, but you said back and you enjoy the performances. Jai Courtney plays a really good bad FBI agent and Jeffrey Donovan plays a really good one. Plus, you feel sympathetic with his character cuz he has a dog. Like so many action movies that Liam Neeson has done, whether he’s rescuing a plane from terrorist or moving train like in the movie the Commuter, you’ve pretty much seen this story. So you enjoy it for what it is.

The way I look at this movie and why you should see it is, maybe it’s not worth seeing a movie theater, but if it’s free on cable or a cheap rental at Redbox, check it out and be entertained even if you’ll never see it again. See Liam Neeson be the great anti-hero, but as a demolition expert this time. Enjoy the cat and mouse game and the performances of the cast.  Plus, if you’re on the fence about whether you really want to see this movie, all of these actors have made worse movies that are definitely not worth checking out through no fault of their own. This is an average movie at best, a good one-timer, but as always Liam Neeson is good in this action role and you can’t go wrong with that. It may not be worth running out to the theater to see, but it’s entertaining enough to check out and not ignore. And so what if his Bryan Mills Esq  character doesn’t do any cool martial arts moves, but does really good explosions. That’s worth a Redbox rental and you get to see Liam Neeson do what he does best in an action movie.