An appealing cast makes this heist comedy enoyable, although you can’t take one microsecond of it seriously; virtually every plot point defies logic, common sense and the laws of probability. But, you know, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and a British accent.
Jennifer (Kyla Frye, I’m in love with you) has just been laid off as the IT person of a posh London company. Feeling dejected and off to a period of unemployment, she randomly takes a phone call from an unidentified caller one day.
On the line is a crime boss (the great Simon Callow in what is now known as a Bruce Willis Bookend role) who has a job for her. He seems to know everything about her and lays out a scenario that will net her 5 million for 45 minutes of her time.
All she has to do is find her way into a secure building, hack a server and steal zillions of passwords worth big bucks. And they’ll all fit on one innocent little thumb drive. Easy peasy.
She’s interrupted by a dashing fellow (Sam Benjamin) who works there – or so he says. But it doesn’t take long (and I will not reveal the multitude of layers peeled back, each one revealing something less believable than the one before) before we see that Mr. Handsome is not who he says he is.
The two of them have undeniable chemistry, though they doth protest this fact too much. And before you know it, they are maybe working as a team, or maybe not, but both are on the run from police and bad guys.
Once I realized that the movie was simply a Rom-Com disguised as a heist flick, I found myself enjoying the caper as an easy-going comedy. Not laugh out loud comedy – rather, smile and don’t take it seriously funny.
This means accepting that someone can be shot at close range through the shoulder and only lose a spot of blood. Less pain than stubbing one’s toe – not bad!
Frye is low key great to watch and Benjamin has a shape-shifting role which he makes credible. The London exteriors are what we used to call “Chamber of Commerce” shots and, indeed, they do make you want to hop the next flight to Heathrow.
So, go in for a breezy romp where the peril is never too heavy and the plane lands exactly where you hope it will. I dare you not to be charmed by Frye and Benjamin.
The Pay Day will be released in the U.S on Demand November 11, in Select Theaters November 14, and in the UK December 5 on digital platforms by Vertical Entertainment. A partial list of theatres is below.
SCREENING IN THE FOLLOWING THEATERS FROM MONDAY NOVEMBER 14
Albany-Schenectady-Troy Cinema 7 Bennington, VT
Buffalo Flix Theatre 10 Depew, NY S
Lakewood Cinema 8 Lakewood, NY
Burlington-Plattsburgh Star Cinema 3 St. Johnsbury, VT
Ft. Myers-Naples The Prado Stadium 12 Bonita Springs, FL
Hartford & New Haven Gallery Cinemas 6 Colchester, CT
New York Hillsborough Cinema Belle Mead, NJ
Cranford Theatre Cranford, NJ STD
Hawthorne Cinema 5 Hawthorne, NJ
Roosevelt Cinemas 7 Hyde Park, NY
New Paltz Theatre New Paltz, NY
Cityplex 12 Newark, NJ
Fabian 8 Paterson, NJ STD
Port Jefferson Cinemas 7 Port Jefferson Station, NY
Lyceum 7 Red Hook, NY
Montgomery 6 Rocky Hill, NJ
Pascack Theatre 6 Westwood, NJ
Reno Ironwood 8 Cinemas Minden, NV
Richmond-Petersburg Essex 5 Tappahannock, VA
Washington, DC Berkeley Plaza 7 Theatre Martinsburg, WV