After the Sunset

Directed by Brett Ratner, After the Sunset follows ace jewel thieves Max (Pierce Brosnan) and Lola (Salma Hayek) as their retirement is interrupted by their FBI agent nemesis/foil (Woody Harrelson’s Stan). It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to slick yet hollow effect by Ratner, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Paul Zbyszewski and Craig Rosenberg, delivers a briskly-paced comedy that does, admittedly, get off to a fairly promising start – with the watchable atmosphere heightened and perpetuated by the predictably affable efforts of stars Brosnan, Hayek, and Harrelson. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that Ratner elicits charming work from periphery players like Don Cheadle and Naomie Harris.) There’s little doubt, then, that After the Sunset’s hold on the viewer is slowly-but-surely loosened by an often egregiously bland and generic midsection, despite the inclusion of a few engaging, entertaining set-pieces, and it does become more and more difficult to work up any real enthusiasm for the protagonists’ excessively lighthearted exploits – which does, in turn, diminish the impact of the twist-heavy final few minutes considerably. The end result is a humdrum caper that often feels like it should be so much better (and more exciting), despite the personable efforts of three completely captivating and likeable lead performers.

** out of ****