Original setup and format, to start on a positive note. It worked out very different from what I had expected and what the plot suggested. We were told that it was about a money truck heist, prepared and executed by an assembled group of experienced mafiosi who all were very aware of mistakes commonly made by others. In the past, our main protagonist lost his assembled fortune by excessive gambling, and he now wanted to gain a new fortune with a final big bang, to establish a solid pension.
What we get is 95% preparation and 5% execution of the actual heist. This could have been a refreshing choice, were it not that the chosen format borders on boring. We watch a road movie rather than actual meetings with accomplices. Most of the time we see our main protagonist and his son in a car, underway, hopping from one location to another, in search of the driver of the money truck who promised to reveal route details. We see only a few meetings about the subject at hand. And we see others busy to prepare everything for the money heist itself, but only a small part of the running time is devoted to the amount of work done along that line.
Instead, finding the money truck driver has the upper hand, who is known to frequent gambling venues. The latter combined with the fact that our main protagonist is addicted to gambling, having lost most of his possessions in the process, could have provided an interesting plot element, but alas it falters halfway. The only memorable aspect is told in passing, namely that much of his initial 100K starting costs is lost in the process, despite that we don't see much gambling as part of his trip.
Similarly, some less nice details about the relationship with the son (and his wife, and another son) is revealed near the end, something that could have been exploited better and shown earlier. I read between the lines that a life as a mafiosi boss is not compatible with normal family life, which is nearly all we get to know from the sparse conversation about this sensitive topic. Also, I assume, his gambling addiction won't have worked in his advantage either as a family man.
All in all, its format may be unique and very different from the usual, given the subject. Choices are made in favor of the road movie setting, and against most of the heist and its preparations. We see hardly any action usually involved in a heist. In itself this is not a problem, as being shown many times before. But it would have given ample space in terms of running time, hence an opportunity to delve deeper in several promising plot elements, now disappearing under the radar. I regret these were left under-exploited (family relationships, gambling addiction, his efforts to get 100K "seeding" money, promises he had to make, and much more), offering sufficient material to potentially fill the now sparse 80 minutes running time. This could have been much more than we saw delivered.
What we get is 95% preparation and 5% execution of the actual heist. This could have been a refreshing choice, were it not that the chosen format borders on boring. We watch a road movie rather than actual meetings with accomplices. Most of the time we see our main protagonist and his son in a car, underway, hopping from one location to another, in search of the driver of the money truck who promised to reveal route details. We see only a few meetings about the subject at hand. And we see others busy to prepare everything for the money heist itself, but only a small part of the running time is devoted to the amount of work done along that line.
Instead, finding the money truck driver has the upper hand, who is known to frequent gambling venues. The latter combined with the fact that our main protagonist is addicted to gambling, having lost most of his possessions in the process, could have provided an interesting plot element, but alas it falters halfway. The only memorable aspect is told in passing, namely that much of his initial 100K starting costs is lost in the process, despite that we don't see much gambling as part of his trip.
Similarly, some less nice details about the relationship with the son (and his wife, and another son) is revealed near the end, something that could have been exploited better and shown earlier. I read between the lines that a life as a mafiosi boss is not compatible with normal family life, which is nearly all we get to know from the sparse conversation about this sensitive topic. Also, I assume, his gambling addiction won't have worked in his advantage either as a family man.
All in all, its format may be unique and very different from the usual, given the subject. Choices are made in favor of the road movie setting, and against most of the heist and its preparations. We see hardly any action usually involved in a heist. In itself this is not a problem, as being shown many times before. But it would have given ample space in terms of running time, hence an opportunity to delve deeper in several promising plot elements, now disappearing under the radar. I regret these were left under-exploited (family relationships, gambling addiction, his efforts to get 100K "seeding" money, promises he had to make, and much more), offering sufficient material to potentially fill the now sparse 80 minutes running time. This could have been much more than we saw delivered.
