Connery and Zeta-Jones Conspire
To Catch a Thief

You have to give Sean Connery credit. After appearing in last summer's abysmal flop, The Avengers, I had serious doubts about his future in the film industry. But the man whose name will always be synonymous with James Bond has come back in an action/drama with more twists and turns than his sexy co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones (who dazzled audiences last year in The Mask of Zorro).

While Entrapment may not be the best movie Connery's ever made, it certainly is interesting, if flawed. Set 16 days before the year 2000 (which they erroneously call the new millennium, but don't even get me started on that!), an insurance investigator is following a hunch regarding a recent robbery of a Rembrandt painting. Virginia "Gin" Baker (Zeta-Jones) goes undercover to catch the suspected thief: a master criminal named Robert MacDougal (Connery).

From the very beginning it is obvious that Baker is going to play MacDougal for a fool, but as the story continues, it becomes a game of cat and mouse. Which person is the cat and which the mouse becomes the central question. But this, like Zeta-Jones' tight-fitting outfit, is merely misdirection to keep audiences from looking too close at the heists.

Although the "master" criminal is supposed to be the focus of the story, the crimes committed are rather boring. The lynchpin of one robbery seems not to be careful planning, but the flexibility of Zeta-Jones in a tight suit. Not that I'm complaining, but it doesn't seem to have any finesse. With infrared beams and security alarms, high security systems have ruined movie robberies.

In addition to Connery's charisma and Zeta-Jones' disarming charm, the cast also has Ving Rhames. Even though Rhames' character is something of a mystery for the majority of the film, the few appearances he makes are intriguing. More entertaining, however, is Maury Chaykin as the Malaysian crime lord Conrad Greene. His character - sort of Casablanca's Señor Ferrari on heroin - is inspired.

For all its razzle-dazzle, the story does have some problems. The least of these is the poor pacing of the movie. While the beginning sets a quick tone for the movie, the early training scenes between Connery and Zeta-Jones are about as exciting as watching Pat Morita train Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid. I can't even begin to describe the problems later in the film - not without spoiling some major plot points - but let me advise you to not look too closely.

In short, if you're looking for a mildly entertaining cops and robbers movie, Entrapment is pretty good. Nevertheless, I don't think you have to be a Hollywood studio mogul to see why Fox decided to release it before the summer movie season.

MY RATING: 6 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 113 min.