Wuthering heists

>> Entrapment is formulaic but fun

by MATTHEW HAYS

Watching Entrapment, it's difficult to feel like one hasn't been caught up in the collective fantasy of the average aging straight male. Hell, we don't get older, we get better! Even in our 70s, women one-third our age will do virtually anything to get into the sack with us!

Such is the case in this movie about a couple of high-class thieves, played by Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Connery is the main suspect in the nabbing of a pricey Rembrandt. Zeta-Jones, an insurance investigator(!), chooses to go undercover as a partner in crime in an effort to cuff and charge Connery.

Soon the two are collaborating on some extremely risky endeavours (an Egyptian artifact featured on the cover of Time, a major Asian bank), while Connery suspects Zeta-Jones of double-crossing him. Though this idea is pretty formulaic, director Jon Amiel (Copycat) handles the action well, and the are-you-for-real-or-are-you-screwing-me tension is tangible. The heist scenes themselves are good old-fashioned fun--anyone with a fear of heights will undeniably be left feeling queasy by the film's climactic sequence.

In order to get around laser-beam security fields, Zeta-Jones must contort her body to get to the coveted item without setting off alarms. This supplies the camera with plenty of opportunities to capture shots of her butt--which is caressed by a spray-on outfit--as she bends her body into various positions. Connery ogles her every move, just to make sure she gets everything right.

The ogling seems all the more odd when one considers that Connery consistently pushes aside the prospect of actually doing Zeta-Jones. Conspiring thieves, the seasoned pro explains to her, should never get sexually involved; business is business. Her professional motives may remain in question throughout most of the film, but Zeta-Jones's hots for Connery are never in question. At one point, as he pulls away, she asks him why he does so. "It's complicated," he responds. I almost expected a gay confession here, but then I remembered that it's a Sean Connery film.

Though formulaic--and somewhat oddly cast--Entrapment is a passable bit of escapism. Its strangest point comes with its conclusion, a striking example of moviemaking by committee. It looks as though several executive producers, a few script doctors and maybe even Connery himself all put their heads together and pooled their ideas for closure--and then promptly forgot to actually choose the winning option. Thus the film becomes another symbol of an industry capable of throwing heaps of money around but taking few risks.

Entrapment opens Friday, April 30