The Forger (2014)

A thief works with his father and son to forge a painting by Monet and steal the original. Together, they plan the heist of their lives.

Director:

Philip Martin

Writer:

Richard D'Ovidio

Stars:

John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Travolta	...	Raymond J. Cutter
Christopher Plummer	...	Joseph Cutter
Tye Sheridan	...	Will Cutter
Abigail Spencer	...	Agent Paisley
Anson Mount	...	Keegan
Marcus Thomas	...	Carl
Jennifer Ehle	...	Kim
Travis Aaron Wade	...	Detective Devlin
Lyndon Smith	...	Melanie
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Raul Carlos
Sean Malone	...	Finn
Owen Burke	...	Collin
Steve Sweeney	...	Ivan
Bryan Veronneau	...	Rodney
Christy Scott Cashman	...	Dr. Wallace

Storyline

The world's best art forger (John Travolta) makes a deal with a crime syndicate to get an early release from prison, but in return he must pull off an impossible heist - he must forge a painting by Claude Monet, steal the original from a museum, and replace it with a replica so perfect that no one will notice. He enlists the help of his father (Christopher Plummer) and son (Tye Sheridan) and together they plan the heist of their lives!

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Plot Keywords:

forgery | 

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Taglines:

It's never too late for one last heist.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

24 April 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

A hamisító

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$500,304

Company Credits

Production Co:

Saban Films, Code Entertainment, Freedom Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At about 14 minutes in, Gramps, Will, and Ray are watching a movie on TV. The film is "D.O.A.", 1949, directed by Rudolph Mate, starring Edmond O'Brien.

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Goofs

In the diner where Ray brought his son Will they receive their order overly quickly It couldn't even have been able to start being made in that short of time. Also when she brings them their plates, with Ray's order she says it's a burger with no onions when you heard him asking for it he just asked for a cheeseburger he never made extra specifications incidentally when you see it it does have cheese on it. When Ray goes to put ketchup on it you see him with the bottle in his left hand and almost about to pop the cap with his left and the next shot from the back you you hear the pop of it opening but it ends up emerging from the right side like he was doing it the exact opposite way, switched hands incongruently. When shot back from the front his plate is turned 180 degrees on the table and he's holding the top bun randomly in his left hand when it already been taken off previously.

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Quotes

Joseph Cutter: I hope you didn't do something foolish to be here.

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Connections

Features D.O.A. (1949)

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Soundtracks

Just Between the Two of Us
Written by Craig William Charles Zurba, Andre Kunkel, Troy Benjamin Reid
Performed by Agent

User Reviews

A pretty good movie, after all.

The review that caught my eye, before I rented "The Forger", was "Travolta's best performance in ten years...". But then, just before watching it, I searched for more reviews and saw that some critics panned it. Well, I happy to say they are wrong—it's a pretty good movie, after all.

I mean, come on, critics! I usually agree with you—but saying this is too "slow paced" and that it has "two, conflicting, story lines"? I LOVED the pace, and the acting, and, especially the story line(s).

OK, so it does have two story lines going on—the forgery and heist, and the human interest about the forger's family (his dad, his son, his ex-wife who had not seen the son in years, the female detective...). So what? It's believable (as much as any heist story or human interest story can be) to the point that plot vs. sub-plot is just not a problem.

I thought Travolta DID give a heck of a performance. His pace fit the overall pace of the film, as did that of the other actors. And Travolta, who has had his share of sorrow in real life, looked to me like a man who has been there, done that. He looks the part and is very convincing.

Everyone actually looked pretty good (or properly bad-ass) thanks to some solid lighting and overall nice cinematography. (This is not some kind of "art" film, but nevertheless consistent in it's camera work.) The sound quality was good (a pet peeve of mine in some films) including the music which seemed to fit the film nicely.

As for the VERY best performance in the film, besides Plummer, who is always fun to watch for me... it has to be young Tye Sheridan. Nicely understated, smart, believable. I'm looking forward to his next film, whatever it turns out to be.

Finally, the director certainly knows a thing or two about film making, as, even with the somewhat slow pace, everything builds mostly evenly towards a satisfying ending. Of course the screenplay had to work too, for that to happen.

Bottom line, I'm glad I rented "The Forger". I enjoyed pretty much all of it, and even replayed a few parts to study how the film was put together. Probably no Academy Awards coming for this, but all cast and crew can still stand tall.