The Code (aka Thick As Thieves)

I’m fairly certain Morgan Freeman is still considered a semi-large star, right? And Antonio Banderas… well, he was one once, wasn’t he? (Hey, I love Banderas—13th Warrior is one of the great underrated action films of the past decade—but lackluster Zorro and Desperado sequels, Spy Kids flicks, and Shrek voice work—excellent as it may be—does not a “movie star” career maintain.)

So yes, there was a bit of head-scratching “huh?” going down when The Code showed up in the redboxes recently—and then went on to become THE top-rented DVD in the country. What the hell is this film? Where did it come from?  Why is everyone renting it?

The Code is known as Thick As Thieves overseas and in fact that's what it was produced for: overseas direct-to-video sales. You know how big stars often make foreign television commercials that are never seen in the US? (The whole Conan O’Brien Bud Light ad is based on the premise.) Well, that’s sort of what The Code/Thick As Thieves is: a small, cheap heist film created to fill out European DVD shelves and rent based on two stars with strong international recognition. (If the film itself doesn’t give this intent away, its end does: when you play an old T.A.T.U. dance tune--are there any new T.A.T.U. songs?--over your closing credits, you’ve fully exposed your Euro-pop roots.)

The presence of those two stars makes The Code somewhat different from most cheap straight-to-video flicks. And 10 years ago director Mimi Leder was on the Hollywood A-List, making The Peacemaker with Nicole Kidman and George Clooney (when he was still a hot, rising TV-to-movies star, but just before he became George Clooney) and Deep Impact (one of 1998’s two “something big is going to hit the Earth” flicks). Then Leder made Pay It Forward, with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. So you see, this is what paying it forward gets ya: a decade in the Hollywood hinterlands. Still, Leder's sure-handed competence makes The Code a pretty decent rental for a film you’d probably never heard of.

The plot won’t have anyone gasping in surprise or wonderment: Freeman is a legendary thief who owes money to the Russian Mob—a situation most financial advisers advise against. (The Russian Boss is played by Rade Šerbedžija, the Serbian That Guy recognizable from Snatch [Boris the Blade] and season six of 24 [Dmitri Gredenko].)   Long pursued by his own Javert (Robert Forrester), Freeman needs to pull one more big heist (the Egg McGuffin targets here are by Faberge), so he recruits young—well younger—thief Banderas to help out.

Of course Banderas falls for Freeman’s god-daughter, Aussie actress Radha Mitchell (Man on Fire, Silent Hill, Melinda and Melinda). While it's nice for a change to see a film that doesn't shoehorn barely pubescent "hot" TV hunks of the moment into the cast, Banderas is of the age where you start to worry he’s going to hurt himself doing both action scenes and sex scenes. However his shirt comes off several times in The Code and impressively neither a body double nor CGI effects appear to have been employed.

Naturally the appeal of this type of film is an efficient combo of bickering courtship between the wizened vet and the reckless young(ish) Turk, and the planning and execution of The Big Heist, complete with all sorts of hi-tech, security-thwarting equipment that appear to have cost more than the heist itself would ever bring in. The Code is a movie-movie: everyone talks and behaves based on how characters in movies talk and behave. But even absent the cool charm, smarts, and style of the near-perfect Oceans 11-13 films, The Code still manages to be slick, mildly diverting fun.

I’m a big fan of stumbling across DVD discoveries, and in this age of super-hyped, over-promoted event movies and Internet anticipation for big-name, high-concept franchise films (on sites like… well, this one…) there’s a kick to be had in picking up a DVD and saying “what the hell is this?” I don’t want to oversell The Code, but it’s not half bad. It’s not all-the-way good, either, but it works well as a “filler movie”—nothing special you have to go out of your way to catch, but perfect for an evening when you’re in the mood for a heist flick (as I often am) and are tired of re-watching the Ocean’s DVDs.

Comments

[Fiirvoen (Jason)]

"the near-perfect Oceans 11-13 films" They are pretty close to perfect, aren't they... :)

[WILL GATOR]

morgan freeman should be ashAMED OF HIMSELF, THERE IS NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS MOVIE AND I KNOW ITS ONLY A BUCK BUT WHAT A WASTE OF TIME,, LATER "GATOR"

[Locke Peterseim]

Just hours after I posted this review it became clear Morgan Freeman has a few OTHER things to be ashamed of...

[Fiirvoen (Jason)]

I vote that one trashy rumor.