After the
Sunset is an
entertaining caper film with a comedic edge about a retired master
jewel thief who finds himself pulled back into “the life” for one
last heist (how original!). The film is full of twists and turns,
witty banter, goofy pratfalls, and character double-crosses.
Max Burdett (Pierce
Brosnan) is a famous master jewel thief, pulling off incredibly
elaborate heists on only the most priceless of jewels. The film opens
with Max pulling off another complicated heist with the help of his
partner and love of his life, Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek), and
embarrassing his nemesis, FBI agent Stan Lloyd (Woody Harrelson), once
again. After the successful heist, Max and Lola retire to the Bahamas
unscathed. Lola busies herself with activities like snorkeling,
working on their sun deck, meeting couples to have diner with, and
writing her vows for their future wedding. She absolutely loves
retirement and just wishes Max would feel the same. Meanwhile, Max is
just bored silly. At the dinners they have with these various couples
he keeps himself entertained by stealing their wallets and jewels.
Then Agent Lloyd
comes to the island obsessed with catching Max in the act because of
all the times Max has embarrassed him so badly. Lloyd purposely
informs Max that there is a priceless jewel, one of the only famous
jewels that Max has not stolen before, on board a luxury cruise ship
docked in the island’s main harbor. Max resists the temptation for a
while, but it’s not long before he is drawn back into it with this new
challenge. Agent Lloyd and Max strike up an unusual friendship based
on admiration (from Lloyd) and amusement (from Max) that may get in
Max’s way, along with Lola’s insistence that Max will lose her if he
even dares try this. Some local law enforcement and local gangsters
also come into play to make it just that much more difficult and
challenging for Max.
CRITIQUE
After the Sunset
is one
of those great lazy afternoon rentals, it is a fun and entertaining
caper film filled with great sun-drenched locales and goofy
shenanigans but it doesn’t add up to anything substantial or original
in any way. This is the kind of film you’ve seen before and there is
nothing that really sets it apart and yet it all goes down agreeably.
The script is weak and predictable and the direction feels lazy, but
it manages to entertain the whole way through.
There is one scene
that kind of sums up the whole film for me. Remember the scene in
Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones slyly points to places
that hurt on his face while getting kissed from his girl? Well, the
scene is repeated in After the Sunset with Harrelson and Naomie
Harris (from 28 Days Later) as his love interest. The scene is
enjoyable and makes you smile because of the reference but it has
absolutely nothing new to say, it’s been done better, and the whole
scene is acted and filmed in a very lazy way. Pretty much sums up the
film for me. Fun and enjoyable but completely devoid of originality,
lazily put together, and it has been done better.
The film is
definitely easy on the eyes though, from the amazing Caribbean locales
to the many scenes with Salma Hayek in bikinis, at least Ratner knows
he has one of the best looking actresses alive and makes perfect use
of it. The whole film has a very laid back, relaxed vibe that makes it
that much easier to overlook the negatives.
The cast is
chronically underachieving here, with the exception of Harrelson who
pulls off the comedic scenes brilliantly and Pierce Brosnan who was
born for this type of role. Brosnan plays the same type of character
we have seen him in before (the suave and smooth professional as in
the Bond films and in The Thomas Crown Affair) and,
again, he is great in this type of role. He grounds the film in this
playful, entertaining vibe. Hayek is not much more than the eye candy
in the film, but for this purpose, she serves the film extremely well.
She is so one-dimensional it’s almost embarrassing; I mean she’s been
nominated for an Oscar not long ago. Don Cheadle is wasted so badly as
a local gangster on a character with almost no screen time and very
poorly written dialogue. Cheadle is one of the best actors out there
and you just can’t help wishing he had more to chew on. The best part
of the cast though is Woody Harrelson as bumbling Agent Lloyd. He
nails all the comedy and elevates the dialogue and scenes he has to
work with. He is a very gifted comedic actor who establishes very
winning chemistry with Brosnan. It is their chemistry that carries the
film (especially since Brosnan and Hayek have almost zero chemistry)
and most of the high points of the film are the comedic pratfalls with
Agent Lloyd and Max’s reactions to him.
The script is
incredibly lazy and is illogical and strange in spots. There are some
scenes that make absolutely no sense, like when Lloyd and Max go on a
fishing trip for no explicable reason and it ends with Lloyd reading a
shark his rights and shooting it on the deck of the boat without
miraculously putting a hole in the boat (just ridiculous bits like
that). The fact that the dialogue is so good (witty and funny) is a
huge surprise since the story and various scenes are so poorly
written.
The direction from
Brett Ratner is competent but lazy in spots. He does blanket the film
in a fun and laid-back vibe that Brosnan and Harrelson capture and he
focuses the film where it needs to (Harrelson and Brosnan’s banter
with Hayek bikini scenes intertwined), but you know he is capable of
more. Ratner needs to make his next project something much more
substantial and try and stretch himself. He has unlimited potential
and After the Sunset most certainly has some intriguing moments
you just wish it had more substance.
THE VIDEO
The transfer is
meticulously clean; the colors are vibrant and rich. The scenery (and
Salma Hayek) couldn’t look better; it is a strong, quality video
transfer.
THE AUDIO
The audio is
presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and it is outstandingly clear and
crisp; the balances are perfect and the surround is dynamic and
active.
THE EXTRAS
Commentary with
Director Brett Ratner – This is a very informative and interesting commentary track with a
laryngitis inflicted Ratner along with producer Beau Flynn and editor
Mark Helfrich where they discuss various aspects of making the film
while managing to avoid fluff and being consistently entertaining and
funny. There are some very funny bits on their thoughts about Hayek
and some insights on Harrelson.
Deleted
Scenes/Alternative Ending/Blooper Reel – The deleted scenes are actually well done stand-alone
scenes that you can view with or without Ratner’s commentary. It makes
sense why most of them were cut but they do hold your interest. The
alternative ending is cheesy and I definitely preferred the original
ending to this one. The blooper reel (5 mins) is quite funny and it
really feels like the cast had a great time with the film.
Before, During and
After the Sunset Documentary (71 mins) – This is one of the best making of
documentaries I’ve ever seen. The documentary is completely devoid of
any promotional fluff instead focusing in on what this film was truly
like to shoot. It shows real footage of them filming taking you into
it closer than usual. You get to see all the screw ups and daily
problems that go into making a feature film. This really isn’t one of
those flattering pieces; it gives you the real deal. There are the
obligatory interviews with cast and crew as well, which are all quite
good (funny and informative). This is definitely a must see extra.
Interview with a
Jewel Thief
(8 mins)– This is an interview with Bret Ratner talking with real life
jewel thief Bill Mason who goes into detail of what life is like for a
jewel thief and how the thrill of it all is so addicting and how that
is truly what ends up running his life. This is an interesting and
thoughtful extra that just shows how in tune Ratner is with what DVD
has to offer.
FINAL THOUGHTS
After the Sunset
has a
multitude of problems to overcome but it manages to entertain and
proves a very easy and agreeable watch. If you go into it with low
expectations, you’ll have a good time. The disc is extremely well put
together with terrific audio and video and some truly terrific extras.
