Entrapment (1999)

Trust is a rare commodity among thieves, especially when each one suspects the other of setting a trap. Jon Amiel's caper thriller "Entrapment" stars Sean Connery as Robert "Mac" MacDougal, a legendary art thief believed to be long retired, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gin Baker, a sharp young insurance investigator assigned to catch him after a priceless Rembrandt is stolen. Posing as a fellow thief to trap him, Gin proposes a job: stealing a precious ancient Chinese mask from a heavily guarded English estate. Each has something to hold over the other, and it soon becomes clear that Gin is playing both sides of the law. At first they regard each other with suspicion, training at Mac's remote Scottish castle, where Gin famously practices slinking through a maze of laser beams, before pulling off the heist without a hitch. Their prickly partnership gradually thaws into mutual attraction as they plan a massive bank theft at Kuala Lumpur's towering Petronas Towers, timed to exploit the Y2K computer glitch at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1999. Ving Rhames and Will Patton co-star. It plays like a 1970s caper movie updated for the gadget-crazy, high-tech '90s. The plot takes a few too many strained twists, and the chemistry between the leads, separated by nearly four decades in age, is almost nonexistent, though both carry on gamely. Still, there's genuine suspense in many scenes, packed with dazzling burglary gadgets. Zeta-Jones is glamorous, Connery is as reliable as ever, and while the flat editing and direction drag things down, fans of caper films, high-tech thrillers and the two stars should find plenty to enjoy.