When it comes to movies about crime, most focus on the criminals and/or those pursuing them, yet far fewer portray the victims and the aftermath of the event on them. Aside from one exception, that's true in a number of ways in the crime caper flick, "After the Sunset." Yes, one character -- the federal agent portrayed by Woody Harrelson -- is motivated by a pivotal crime, but it's only because he was entrusted to provide safe passage for a valuable diamond that ends up getting snatched.
The real victims, however, come in a variety of guises. First, there are the other films that end up being robbed by this one. That not only applies to many other cat burglar/crime capers that preceded it -- from the unwisely twice-reference "To Catch a Thief" as well as work from the likes of Elmore Leonard -- but also even non-related ones from other films.
The most notable is the "kiss the boo-boo" moment where Harrelson repeatedly has Naomi Harris' character kiss the sore spots on his face just as Karen Allen did to Harrison Ford way back when in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
The next victim is the film itself or, to be more specific, its screenplay. I'm not sure how or when it happened, but someone stole nearly all of the fun out of the script by Craig Rosenberg ("Hotel de Love") and Paul Zbyszewski (making his debut). Some might argue that director Brett Ratner ("Red Dragon," the "Rush Hour" films) is to blame. Whatever and whoever the case, this is probably one of the least exciting, imaginative or engaging caper films you might ever see.
While a lot of attention has been paid to the various relationships in the film -- to varying degrees of success -- the actual planning and execution of stealing the pivotal diamond is about as boring and lackluster as they come. While the opening introductory sequence offers a little hope that an even bigger, better and more fun heist might be in store, one or more midnight raiders made off with most all of those qualities.
All of which leads to the final victim, the viewing audience. With a good, not to mention attractive cast, gorgeous production values and an exquisite tropical setting, the stage would seem to be set for a delightful and maybe even enthralling romp. Alas, many a viewer may think they've been robbed and/or become victims of a sort of cinematic bait and switch. Simply put, what's promised is not what's ultimately delivered.
As just stated, the one thing the film has going for it is that everything looks great. For those so inclined for such visual pleasures, 007 himself, Pierce Brosnan ("Laws of Attraction," "Die Another Day") appears shirtless or with open shirt many times, as does Harrelson ("She Hate Me," "EdTV"). The film even goes so far as to put the two into bed together in what's supposed to be some ironic homosexual humor (where others think they're gay and the viewer is supposed to laugh over that).
Harrelson is okay in his role playing the seemingly uptight agent and he does get a few occasional laughs (the film offers more attempts at humor than one would likely expect for an effort like this). Brosnan is also decent and delivers his usual, solid performance. The fact, however, that he's played this sort of character before in better roles in better movies (most will likely think of "The Thomas Crown Affair") only further showcases the weakly written character here.
When it comes to skin, however, those two have nothing on Salma Hayek ("Frida," "Once Upon a Time in Mexico") whose character might as well have been named "Eye Candy." Probably not since the Bond films or any teen sexploitation comedies has an actress been so sexualized just for the pure titillation factor.
Unfortunately, but not altogether surprisingly, there's little character here for her to work with, a major problem that also applies to her male costars. Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda," "Ocean's Twelve") is wasted as the island's top gangster who wants in on the action in a subplot that goes nowhere, while Naomi Harris ("28 Days Later," "Living in Hope") shows up as a mixture of plot complication and more eye goodies.
While those and the rest of the attractive visuals certainly make the film easy enough to watch, the weak script, lame heist material and overall "been there, seen that before" aura means that this effort will likely disappear faster than the dusk that follows "After the Sunset." The picture rates as just a 4 out of 10.
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