The Hard Easy (2006)

Two separate teams of jewel thieves, one low-rent and one upscale, both desperate, converge on the same score at the exact same time, and a simple job turns out very complicated and very bloody.

Director:

Ari Ryan

Writers:

Jon Lindstrom (screenplay), Jon Lindstrom (story)

Stars:

Henry Thomas, David Boreanaz, Vera Farmiga

Cast

Credited cast:
Henry Thomas	...	Paul Weston
David Boreanaz	...	Roger Hargitay
Vera Farmiga	...	Dr. Charlie Brooks
Bruce Dern	...	Gene
Peter Weller	...	Ed Koster
Nick Lachey	...	Jason Burns
Elimu Nelson	...	Stephen McKinley
Gary Busey	...	Vinnie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rae Allen	...	Freddie
Heather Arrelano	...	Office Worker
Greg Ashamalla	...	Ed's Assistant
Emily Bergl	...	Natalie
Joe Bucaro III	...	Bennie
Jacob Chambers	...	Todd
Marc Dare	...	Blackjack Player

Storyline

In Los Angeles, the gambler Paul Weston is a loser, and owes a lot of money to the dangerous mobster Freddie. When he is brutally beaten and the life of his former wife is threatened by the Freddie, his acquaintance bartender Vinnie sends him to Dr. Charlie Brooks first and then he convinces him to participate of a heist in the jewelry district with the professional thief Gene to raise the necessary money to pay his debt. Meanwhile, the stock market broker Roger Hargitay finds that the company where he works embezzled US$ 5,000,000.00 from their clients and he will be arrested in a couple of days. His boss Ed Koster convinces Roger and two co-workers to participate in an easy robbery of a jewelry planned by an inside man. On Saturday morning, both gangs arrive in the same jewelry for the same heist at the same time.

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Plot Keywords:

broker | inside job | ski mask | semiautomatic rifle | revenge | 

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Taglines:

Two Gangs, One Heist....Only the Lucky Survive.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and pervasive language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Henry & Vera have both starred in the Psycho franchise.

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Goofs

On the wall of Dr. Charlie's office is a display of her father's U.S. Marine Corps awards. Among these is the Combat Action Ribbon, which is awarded only to those who actively participated in combat. But the display's Vietnam Service Medal ribbon has no campaign stars on it to indicate battle participation.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Saleswoman: Over here... Good morning.
Delivery guy: Good morning. What, uh, What's with all the suits?
Saleswoman: Some big dealer thing.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.159 (2012)

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Soundtracks

The Hard Easy
Written by David Calzaretta and Jimmy Riley
Performed by David Calzaretta and Jimmy Riley

User Reviews

45 Minutes of Movie, Padded to Feature Length

David Boreanaz is not the world's greatest actor. I know this. He has good instincts, and has even been decent in some projects, but without an experienced director to really tell him what to do, he does tend to come off looking a little amateurish.

Don't know who Ari Ryan is, but kudos to him for getting a film made. I'm sure he was paid very well. But his direction is simplistic and camera-work uninspired (and at times confusing), and for the first hour, all the characters do is bark at one another, whining about how they're not going to take part in a heist that we already know from the first scene is going to take place.

There ARE a few good one-liners... but veteran actors like Peter Weller, Bruce Dern, and even Henry Thomas (hey, he's been doing this since 1982) know how to make it work. Gary Busey managed to act sober for nearly all of his scenes. Vera Farmiga was a year away from "The Departed," and certainly does her best with what's given her, though that isn't much. Her character takes an unnecessary u-turn late in the movie, and she motivates it as best she can. But left field is left field, and lousy writing is lousy writing.

The rest of the performances just kind of lay there. To even call Nick Lachey an actor is an insult to actual actors. The plot synopsis promised two gangs of thieves doing a heist at the same bank on the same day, but the reality is that (a) it's not a bank, it's a jewelry store, (b) they're not thieves, they're amateurs, and (c) we see a bit of the heist in the opening scene, then we flashback and they spend 90 minutes talking about it, to get us back there. We already know it's going to happen, so where's the dilemma? Get to the good stuff, man, it's fun to watch RoboCop berate people and all, but no one's going to see your movie just because of Weller in a supporting role.

Really you could ditch most of the movies first half; Henry Thomas' character is at least interesting (the lovable loser), but then the movie takes a giant crap on everyone around him in the final act, making all that set-up completely irrelevant. Boreanaz' half of the movie isn't interesting at all; His character is a selfish, materialistic jerk, and he's surrounded by selfish, materialistic jerks. The audience isn't interested. Get on with it.

As a short film, this might work. It was a good idea. Unwatchable action sequences, too much exposition and too many bad actors nearly ruin the whole affair. The few good actors make it watchable... but when it ends, you'll wonder what the point of the first 60 minutes was, if the filmmakers care so little about the characters they took pains to create.

6/10. Someone give Henry Thomas a better movie, already.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hard Easy

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blue Star Pictures, Platform Entertainment, Twin Pines Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1