Heist and / or caper films have been a staple of cinema since the 1950s.  This one is pretty decent because it is character-driven and very precise in its details, which makes the whole thing more convincing.  It is the first teaming of producers Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance (who stars as the heist’s mastermind), a teaming that looks quite promising.

Menhaj Huda’s film is set in Chicago in the early 1980s (reportedly inspired by a true story) before banking adopted computerized procedures for transferring money.  Con man Jeremy Horne (Courtney Vance) has formulated a simple but detailed plan for relocating funds into his own offshore account, but he needs the participation of bank insiders.  He finds and persuades four young people to help him, promising them more money than they can imagine.  They agree and the heist takes place, all by telephone, and everything works smoothly until the getaway.

The story does a great job of properly motivating the four young people, all of whom experience the worst effects of poverty and racism while trying their best to get ahead in the right ways.  It is not surprising that they can be persuaded to take the money and run.  Vance is excellent as the deliberate, fastidious mastermind, unflustered by any obstacle that arises.  And the details that populate the story make the potential theft not only believable but exciting at times.  The project is very well written.

However, it does fall a bit flat at the end.  It lacks a payoff that matches the deliberation and expertise that has gone before.  What happens makes sense, but it is a letdown dramatically, and that works against the film’s lasting impact.  It’s also pretty abrupt.  With a bit more care at the end I think that this movie could join the ranks of the many heist and caper films that have entertained audiences with fantasies of sticking it to the establishment.  It’s decent but it could have been really good.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  31 October 2023.