Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

A heist movie, with a unique twist. Too bad it just didn't work.

I'm talking about The Immortals, Kevin Bernhardt's movie about a heist gone wrong.  With a decent cast, and a promised "surprise" I was expecting to really enjoy this movie.  But I didn't.

Eric Roberts plays Jack, a nightclub owner who decides to assemble a team of eight, in order to carry out his plan, to score 7 million dollars.  The eight criminals are brought together where they learn that they will be split into four teams of two.  Each team will rob one safe, in which they will find a metal case full of cash.  The teams will have exactly 1/ 2 hour to return with the case, after which they will receive a fair share of the money.

Although the chosen eight don't know each other, it fairly quickly becomes obvious that Jack has a master plan beyond the obvious.  Especially as we start to get to know the team members.  It seems clear that their pairing was no random incident.  The black man is paired with the racist.  The gay man is paired with the homophobe.  The smart guy is paired with the simple guy. 

But only when the returning team members start comparing notes with each other, does Jack's real agenda become clear. 

I have to give credit where it's due. In this case, it goes to the cast, and the performances.  The eight criminals were: Tia Carrere, Chris Rock, Joe Pantoliano, Clarence Williams III, William Forsythe, Keiran Mulroney, Brian Finney, and writer Kevin Bernhardt.  And Tony Curtis plays a mobster.  An inspired group.  The scenes between Bernhardt and Finney (smart guy and simple guy) were funny and clever.  The scenes with Williams, especially towards the end of the movie, were surprisingly touching.  And, even though I'm really not a fan, I have to say that the humor brought to the film by Chris Rock was entertaining.  During a movie that's loaded with violence, rampant curse words, and general bad behavior, it was nice to laugh a time or two.  Overall, I really enjoyed the performances, particularly by Roberts, and Curtis.

Sadly, that's about all I have to put, in the "positive" column.  Because the script and direction are fully in the "negative" column.  Let's start with the script.  The basic premise of the movie revolves around "the twist".  I won't give it away but I'll tell you that it's "lame".  The stated reasons for the actions taken simply did not ring true for me.  The goals could have been achieved in many other ways.  Clearly the entire "twist" was nothing more than a plot device, with an attempt to be clever.  And it just fails.

I also had a problem with the direction.  The non-linear scenes in the beginning were confusing.  We simply didn't know the characters well enough, at that point, to jump around in time, and be able to understand what we were seeing.  Sure, it ends up making sense, in the end.  But the beginning just feels "sloppy".  There are also scene jumps to an extremely loud costume party in the beginning that add absolutely nothing to the story, and are just annoying. 

In the end, this movie has a nice cast, and some nice performances.  But it fails on the important levels.  Skip it.



Happy to be Lean-n-Mean!

Recommended: No

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age