Den of Thieves (2018) * * *

Directed by:  Christian Gudegast

Starring:  Gerard Butler, 50 Cent, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., Maurice Compte, Evan Jones

Like Heat (1995), which Den of Thieves resembles (and maybe even intentionally so), Den of Thieves examines the relationship between cops and criminals.    They need each other, whether they care to admit it, and in cases like Big Nick O'Brien (Butler), he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he weren't chasing robbers.    Probably drink and mess around with strippers, which is what he does in alarming excess.    But, the job is the reason for him to stop at least temporarily.

As Den of Thieves opens, we witness a botched armored car heist in the early morning hours while Los Angeles is still sleeping.   Guns are fired, cops and crooks are killed, and the armored car is empty anyway.   Is this by design, or a mistake?   Big Nick, who leads a ragtag team of LA Sheriff Dept.'s Major Crimes cops known as "The Regulators" wants to know.   The Regulators are in many ways equal to the criminals in how they bend or break the law to get what they want.    It is hard to tell which side is worse.   "You aren't the bad guys, we are," Nick tells a suspect he is interrogating (and probably highly unlawfully, I may add)

The criminals are led by ex-con Ray Merrimen (Schreiber), who assembles a group of hardened felons and a seemingly feckless two-time loser bartender and getaway driver named Donnie (Jackson), who is the target of Big Nick's interrogations and abuse for inside information.    Their target is the supposedly impenetrable Los Angeles Federal Reserve Branch with, in the words of Danny Ocean, a security system which rivals most nuclear missile solos.   Their plan is to steal $30 million worth of untraceable bills scheduled for destruction. 

Big Nick's home life falls apart due to his long hours, drinking, and canoodling with strippers and hookers.    But, there is a powerful scene in which Big Nick has a possibly last moment with his daughter before he attempts to thwart the thieves before their score.    Den of Thieves isn't as much interested in revealing much about its characters as much as it is about the dynamic between cops and robbers who deal in the same corruption.    We see one side maneuver and then the other, like a chess match with an endgame which seems inevitable, but then the film changes the game to the point where Big Nick will now have to start all over.   Den of Thieves isn't as deep as Heat, nor are its characters as deeply realized, but it honors the tradition of the cops/robbers drama successfully enough.