Directed by: Renny Harlin
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Nick Cannon, Jamie Chung, Rami Jaber, Hermione Corfield, Tim Roth, Mike Angelo
Pierce Brosnan could read a restaurant menu with panache and style. He injects whatever life is present in the tired, overly stylized caper film The Misfits, which is doomed to be quickly forgotten by audiences everywhere. The premise at least piqued marginal interest: A group of thieves steal not for profit, but to help those less fortunate. This is explained in overly hyper fashion by Ringo (Cannon), who pilfers safe a bank's safe deposit boxes while dressed as a blaxpoitation-style pimp. Nothing like dressing in flashy duds which went out of style decades ago to remain inconspicuous while you're robbing a bank.
The proceeds go to a single mother whose ex was hiding money which was supposed to be earmarked for child support and other honest people shafted by others. The setup had promise, but that hastily dissipated once the group's latest plan is revealed. The group, who call themselves The Misfits, consists of Ringo, explosives expert Wick (Angelo), ass kicker Victoria (Chung), and a guy named Prince (Jaber) who may or may not be a real prince from an unnamed wealthy Middle East nation.
The Misfits track down and hire thief Richard Pace (Brosnan), who broke out of prison seemingly to run pickpocket scams. This pisses off Werner Schultz (Roth), who privately owns dozens of prisons including the one Richard escaped from and whose wife Richard may or may not have slept with. This is not confirmed, but likely to have happened. The Misfits want to break into a prison (not coincidentally owned by Schultz) located in the middle of Middle East nation Jazeristan, which appears to be a short camel ride away from Abu Dhabi. There is a stockpile of gold bars in a vault there used to fund terrorist activity. The Misfits, with help from Richard and his daughter Hope (Corfield), will steal the gold so it doesn't wind up in terrorist hands. Then, perhaps donate the gold to a worthy cause. This is surely noble, but the heist itself is laughable.
Once the exposition is laid out, the movie screeches to a halt so the thin characters can try and muster up some depth. Richard and Hope are estranged. Hope is angry at dad for never being around, etc., etc. Hope and Victoria discuss Victoria's hatred of men, which is the explanation as to why she takes extra joy in beating them up. Ringo explains why Ringo Starr is the best Beatle and why he chose to use his name. The crew then hires a caravan of camels to trek across the desert to Jazeristan since I suppose there are no paved roads leading from Abu Dhabi to wherever this Jazeristan is.
I won't reveal how the heist is pulled off, except to say the vault is penetrated with relative ease. Do you recall the vault in Ocean's Eleven and how it was tricked out with cameras, laser security systems and a bomb had to be detonated from the inside to open the door? No such effort is required here. As I recall, Richard and Wick drill a hole in the bathroom floor which is situated above the vault, drop in a couple of explosives, and relieve the prison of the gold bars without breaking a sweat. There is only one camera protecting the gold, and oddly there doesn't appear to be enough gold there to finance a whole terrorist operation. But I'm no expert on gold bars.
The Misfits is directed by Renny Harlin, who directed some solid action pictures in the past including the superior Die Hard 2. There is little evidence of that skill here. The chase scenes are standard fare with quick cuts and crazy camera angles. Everything about The Misfits is by rote. Even Tim Roth, who normally plays a great villain, seems largely disengaged here. The Misfits has straight-to-On-Demand written all over it. What a shame because there are talented people in the movie.
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