Steal (2002) (aka: Riders) starring Stephen Dorff, Natasha Henstridge, Bruce Payne, Steven Berkoff directed by Gérard Pirès Movie Review

Steal (2002)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Stephen Dorff in Steal (2002) (aka: Riders)

Point Broke

He's cocky, aggressive and has a gun pointed at the face of a pretty bank teller as Slim (Stephen Dorff) and his partners in crime hold up a bank. But Slim and these robbers are something else; they are adrenalin junkie sports fans who flee the scene on roller blades, leaping down steps and over police cars which try to block their path. Their antics come to the attention of Lt. Macgruder (Bruce Payne) who is hell bent on catching them. But when Slim and his gang pull off their next job in a series of robberies they not only end up with the cops to deal with but also the mafia.

The opening to "Steal", which also goes by the name of "Riders", is fantastic with the entertaining idea of these robbers fleeing the scene of a crime on roller blades. It made me think of "Point Break" but done with a more adrenalin junkie style and it grabbed my attention with some nice stunt work as these robbers flew off of steps and so on whilst amusingly avoided capture by timing their escape to coincide with a roller blading race in the park. Basically this opening was everything it wanted to be; slick, snappy, exciting and also amusing.

Steven Berkoff in Steal (2002) (aka: Riders)

Unfortunately the trouble with "Steal" is that the only time it is entertaining is when we are watching the outrageous exploits of these thrill seeking robbers who drive an armoured truck around a corner on two wheels as a police helicopter skims the ground behind them. Yes the training they do which includes holding their breath under water for a long time as well as climbing is okay as is the obligatory sex scene but everything else is a let down and not interesting or entertaining enough.

Part of the trouble is the acting as whilst Stephen Dorff gives us slick and smooth whilst Henstridge does sexy we have Bruce Payne delivering a ridiculously over the top performance which makes the corny dialogue he chews on and spits out painful. Steven Berkoff is no better and it is a case that these intentionally over the top characters, and trust me this is Berkoff more over the top than you will have ever seen him before, are a big part of what is wrong with the movie as they our out of place.

What this all boils down to is that "Steal" starts well but then drifts off and only gets your attention again when ever it throws some adrenalin junkie action at us. It is a shame as whilst over all an entertaining movie "Steal" could have been great.


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