Load of rubbish!!

Disturbing yet enthralling

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It certainly has plot holes, worse are the technical ignorance.Burglar alarms are not laser beams, they use IR which is not visible however much steam and dust you blow. Elevators stop by mechanics if wires break/are cut, cameras will warn if something is moving after hours.Bearer bonds have coupons attached to them,stolen bonds can not be blocked, because then they would not be bearer bonds.There would be one sharp round in the chamber in Leos Glock even if Sam exchanges the magazine.Why is that they want to escape and enter by the elevator shaft in the first place? Leo does not have to.......Why would Leo cast them under police suspicion in the first place, he has all the evidence, that would be enough.

Foolproof is your typical heist film but with a nice "beginners" element. You have a basic blackmail to get the show rolling, but the different twists the scenario brings in can keep you guessing until the end.The acting is not stellar, but good enough not to distract you. There's also a caricatural feeling to it that's dosed just enough to keep the whole thing simmering with fun.The only real big drag, is the thing with the lasers... It seems that they all have to do it, and every time it's a question of contortion, as if alarm systems were that dumb.It's entertaining, it's intelligent, it's worth seeing even if it's not a master piece. It's an easy pick.

The budget of this movie was $CAD8,000,000. Astonishingly $2 million of them, and in a record-breaking move, were spent on marketing. Let alone that it had, at its time, the widest release of a Canadian movie in history. The problem though is that the total gross of it was $460,978, namely less than the quarter of its budget's quarter ! No doubt it's a smart movie. I enjoyed it, with its lovely plot and cool dialog. The director made such a nice time. So what was the problem, or according to the aforementioned info, the BIG problem ? While (Kristin Booth) was a very very talented actress (I usually say talented only), (David Suchet) did good work despite the fact that he's not my cup of tea, and (Joris Jarsky) was near to flawless, (Ryan Reynolds) wasn't as good. And sorrowfully, no one of them is that charismatic as a lead. Let alone the tragedy of not being that famous and lustrous internationally as well.The twist was predictable, yet for a viewer like me; accustomed to watch movies all along. It just lacked the American, rather the Hollywood wrapping. The cinematography got the job done without the gloss (of Ocean's Eleven for instance). The soundtrack isn't that crowded with pop songs and catchy music that could be fit to be sold apart later. The sets aren't that expensive. But in fact there were other, more big and real effective, missing things.It lacked the octopus-like distribution all over the planet AND the huge noisy publicity where you run into the making everyday on all the channels, watch the teaser, then the trailer, then the other trailer in every cinema or internet site, with huge posters in your city's main streets maybe weeks before the release…you know, the things that make Hollywood so Hollywood (look even at the poster; it's really poor!). So in general the movie ended up looking like any independent American movie, and has been dealt with as one too. In 2003, there were some noticeable heist movies. Just recall : (Matchstick Men), (The Italian Job), and (Confidence). I think (Foolproof) is no less, if not better. The thing is it missed the stars, the guaranteed presence in the movies, and the propaganda. So in brief the only problem of this movie from Hollywood North is that it wasn't Hollywood…Enough !

If you turned an intelligent writer loose on "The Perfect Score" or "Catch That Kid" to gave these traditional heist pictures some "Enemy of the State" flavor and misdirection (and some good dialogue), you would end up with something like "Foolproof". There is the super secure vault to be cracked by a team of young male and female nonprofessionals. These folks (just slightly older than those in the other two films) have been playing at being robbers; planning and rehearsing elaborate burglary schemes but stopping short of actually putting their plans into action. But a local hood discovers one of their plans and executes it, then threatens to frame them for the crime unless they assist him in pulling off a $20 Million heist. This is an $8 Million Canadian production, pretty big money for their film industry and almost all of it makes it onto the screen. It actually has a better look than the $80 Million "Enemy of the State" although they cheat a bit and under light almost every scene. The caper itself is pretty ordinary and obviously overused but the misdirection is very convincing, ironically it works best on those most familiar with the conventions of the genre who trap themselves by focusing in on what they think are plot holes. The group includes Ryan Reynolds, Kristin Booth, and Joris Jarsky; all Canadian and all unknown to me. Booth looked familiar, like either Tyler Layton or Lindy Booth-who played the airhead student secretary on "Relic Hunter". The latter was somewhat correct-Kristin is Lindy's older sister. In the case of "Foolproof" she was the reason for most of my enjoyment. Reynolds and Jarsky are competent and do all that is required of them but Booth's performance cements everything together. There is no interesting scene or sequence in which she does not have a central part. The DVD is probably the way to go as the deleted scenes actually contain funnier jokes than those that make it into the final cut. The rest of the cast is pretty much of the mediocre quality that you find in this type of film no matter the budget. It's not the sort of challenging film that attracts a really talented actor. Had "Foolproof" starred a big name or had an aggressive marketing campaign it could have caught on and made some money-its better than two thirds of heavily promoted films that do make it to the typical megaplex. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.