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02.13.08

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Chaos

One disc; Lionsgate; $19.98

By Michael S. Gant


This bank-heist-with-a-twist thriller came out in 2005, before Inside Man, but never really got into theaters, so watching the DVD now makes it look like a rip on the Spike Lee/Denzel Washington bank-heist-with-a-twist thriller. Jason (Transporter) Statham plays a police officer who lost his badge after a hostage standoff went south; he is pressed back into service after robbers lock down a bank with 40 people inside. The mastermind (noted income-tax denier Wesley Snipes) turns out to have more on his mind than just quick cash—and there's your twist. Ryan Phillippe, giving ample evidence that Reese Witherspoon made the right decision when she dumped him, stands around adding nothing as Statham's brainy young partner. The title gets a workout in some vague references to chaos theory in physics; I hope that author James Gleick got paid (up front, not in points) for the excess name-drops. The plot depends on an impossible chain of coincidences, but there are some decent car chases. In a making-of documentary, director Tony Giglio explains how he wanted the hand-held old-school look of Bullitt. He gets an A for ambition if not follow-through. (Michael S. Gant)


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