No matter how high the budget, how slick the production, how big the stars – if you’re going to make a heist film, there are certain boxes that must be checked off:
- “Just one last score, then we’re out.”
- “I’m trying to go straight with my life, but the circumstances have forced my hand.”
- At least one robbery must be botched.
- This includes killing someone when all you wanted was the loot
Out of Exile checks off all the “heist” boxes and visits the stations of the cross of the genre, but darn if it doesn’t do so in an entertaining way. It’s a well-paced crime thriller that does its thing and keeps your interest until the very end.
Gabe Russell (Adam Hampton) has just been paroled. With his long beard and quiet demeanor, he looks the part of someone who could be trouble. But he really would rather get his life back together and mend fences with his estranged adult daughter.
Early on in the film, a botched armored car robbery leads to unwanted media attention and gets the local FBI agents into investigative action. The cast includes a couple of familiar faces but largely unknowns on a national scale and they perform ably and authentically. It’s always cool to see the menacing face and ice blue, dead eyes of character actor Peter Greene.
I liked it.
Out of Exile is now in theaters, on digital, and On Demand |Rated R | 2 ½ out of 4 stars
