The Split

Based on the book by Richard Stark, The Split follows several criminals, led by Jim Brown’s McClain, as they plan and execute a high-stakes heist of a packed football stadium – with the job eventually (and inevitably) fraught with problems and complications. Filmmaker Gordon Flemyng delivers a fairly brisk thriller that benefits quite substantially from the efforts of an impressively stacked cast, with Brown’s solid work as the movie’s tough-as-nails hero certainly matched by an eclectic roster of periphery players (including Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine, and Gene Hackman). The movie’s first act, detailing McClain’s efforts at testing preferred team members’ skills, undoubtedly lays the groundwork for a gritty little thriller, and although the heist itself is perhaps a little on the drawn-out side (ie there are spots where the whole thing seems to be occurring in real time), The Split progresses into a twist-laden second half that’s been suffused with exciting, engrossing sequences – which ultimately does cement its place as a thoroughly watchable (yet lamentably erratic) piece of work.

*** out of ****

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