Armored

Armored (2009)
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Ty Hackett, Skeet Ulrich.

American crime drama featuring a revitalized Matt Dillon opposite excellent newcomer Ty Hackett. The story is a run of the mill Heist about a team of armored-car drivers who rob the company they work for, stealing 42 million from a Federal Reserve transfer.

The framing device for the film is the story of Colombus Short (Hackett), a newly retired veteran Marine from Iraq whose parents both died forcing him to return to the USA to take care of his younger brother. The family house going into foreclosure and Colombus needs to make money and so he is lured into the heist by co-worker Dillon.

The heist goes wrong at the rendezvous point (a stunning abandoned steel mill) when the guards are spotted by a homeless man. Fishburne shoots and kills the homeless man causing Colombus to have a change of heart and go against the team to try and stop the robbery. He sounds the alarm on the armored truck and soon a local cop is patrolling the steel mill. Fishburne shoots this cop and Colombus saves him, dragging him successfully into the armored truck. The bad guys try to get into the truck before the cops send cars out looking for the missing officer. The action builds from there to an inevitable climax.

There are a couple of implausible twists, but its action packed and fun watching Colombus use his military skills to outwit the amateur security guards. Antal does a decent job of framing the action and creating suspense. Skeet Ulrich has a decent role and delivers an edgy performance. The ensemble is very good, it just felt small and shallow emotionally, it moved so fast it was hard to connect to anyone in the story. Hackett saves the film with his vital naivete, his energetic emotional performance, he was surrounded by Lions and stepped up.

Dillon is great in this film, its a different role for him, worth watching just for his performance. He looked lean and mean, years have been taken off him somehow. This is a good popcorn, sofa film; just don't expect to be moved, shocked or enlightened.