By Jae-Ha Kim
Amazon.com
May 30, 2007
In The Hard Easy, two men with money problems find themselves racing the clock–and each other–to get to a stash of cash that may help dig them out of financial trouble. Paul Weston (Henry Thomas, Gangs of New York, E.T.) is a gambler.
Roger Hargitay (David Boreanaz, Bones, Angel) is a stockbroker who has squandered his funds. Through coincidence, they are both recruited by different thugs to rob the same place on the same day.
Pop singer Nick Lachey, who makes his feature film debut as Roger’s buddy and fellow accomplice, does a nice job in a small role.
The actors make for nice eye candy, but it’s the grizzled veterans who make the biggest impact. Bruce Dern (The Great Gatsby) and Paul Weller (Robocop) eat up the scenery in their turns as the charismatic puppet masters behind the heist.
Though the plot is as transparent as some of the clothes Vera Farmiga (who plays a stunning doctor) wears, the film is on par with Mark Wahlberg’s more glamorous The Italian Job: an exciting caper that doesn’t make much sense.
