"Mac" MacDougal - Connery doing what he's steadfastly and professionally
done for the last decade or more - is a master art thief (are those
alarm bells ringing?) with a reputation for pulling off some extremely
grand steals. Insurance investigator (still not spotted the link?) Gin
Baker - Zeta Jones with a convincing American accent - has been keeping
tabs on his exploits in her capacity as an FBI agent.
To her colleagues, in particular head honcho Hector Cruz (Patton), she
appears to be unnaturally obsessed with analysing Mac's methods and
psychology. Working long hours, and bypassing the bureau's social
circles, she then offers to snare the elusive MacDougal once and for
all.
Entrapment is essentially a glossy heist movie. Three rolled into one,
in fact. While it's often stunning to watch and very ably directed by
Jon Amiel, the continually escalating high jinks and ever-more far
fetched scenarios are tinged with a sense of overkill. The plan is
clearly to make you enjoy and be thrilled by what you see, yet there is
little left to chance. Nobody said all films have to be ultra-realistic,
or even logically sound, but by the third act everything begins to seem
laboured and overwraught. Not even the double/triple crosses and ensuing
twists pack quite the punch they should, or were intended to.
However, this is far from being a bad film. There is still plenty to
enjoy....a succession of gorgeous locations, some nifty (if slightly
cliched) action sequences, and probably the most talked-about scene
where Zeta Jones practices evading security laserbeams by contorting her
body between carefully-arranged red string. The strong sexual
undercurrents of these manoeuvres are quite naturally, completely
accidental.....
Quite often with a title such as this, the extra features are numerous
enough (and of sufficient quality) to add to its desirability. However,
there are precious few bonus items of note contained on the disc. The
"Making Of" is one of those glorified Trailers that merely state the
obvious amid endless snippets of action from the film, and lasts a very
brief 12 minutes. Worthy of mention, though, is the music video included
for Seal's Lost My Faith. It wasn't a hit in the UK, but
the seamless integration of film footage combined with the presence of Zeta Jones in
the video itself, make for an above-average promo. (DVDfever Ed: Seal's single
doesn't seem to even have been released over here. A missed opportunity perhaps?)
Undemanding and visually agreeable hokum, Entrapment may pale in
comparison with recent fare in the action heist stakes, but for those
with a fondness for slightly naff shenanigans of this kind will be
perfectly entertained and satisfied.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
