For some reason, it's not enough to make a movie about a big heist, or even a really big heist. For some reason, heist movies have to be based on the one last heist. Take about a cliché: the accomplished thief has retired, or is about to retire and is lured out of retirement for one last heist. So when reviewing a movie like After the Sunset, it's not so much the story (which besides a plot twist or two we are already familiar with) but in how well it's executed that becomes important

This time it's a pair of thieves, Max and Lola (Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek) who have retired to a lush Bahamian paradise after stealing two out of three Napoleon diamonds. When they stole the second diamond (the last heist before this last heist) they made a fool of federal agent, Stan (Woody Harrelson). Now, with the third diamond in play, Stan and local gangster, Henry (Don Cheadle) want Max to come out of retirement to get that last diamond. The catch is that Lola would rather stay retired.

The cool and reserved Brosnan is a nice foil to the very hot and sultry Salma Hayek. Their chemistry is one of the best things about the film. But After the Sunset is also a bit of a buddy movie and as such the chemistry between Brosnan and Harrelson is just as important. It works. All three of the principals seem to have had a very good time working on this and the audience seemed to enjoy it as well (the guys sitting behind me seemed to enjoy Salma Hayek the most, along with the constant parade of other scantily clad women throughout the film). 

In fact, there is so much steam and so much scenery that the heist becomes secondary and that is actually a bit of a disappointment. Also disappointing is Don Cheadle's small role. As an actor, I think he has a great comic potential (and a smart comic potential at that ) I was hoping this movie would tap into that but he was really underutilized here. 

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