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A The little-remembered bank job of the Nixon era is the inspiration for the real crime for this sub-Goodfellas light caper, running low on gas and gags. In 1972, thieves broke into a California bank where Tricky Dicky was rumored to have hidden millions of dollars in dirty campaign contributions. The FBI quickly arrested the gang, identified by fingerprints left on cutlery in a house they had rented near the bank (some numb people forgot to turn on the dishwasher). But a boy, Harry Barber, went on the run, evading arrest for eight years; he looked a bit like Steve McQueen.
Viking actor Travis Fimmel stars in the film – and he too looks a bit like Steve McQueen, with the same blue eyes. But what is missing from his superficial, grinning take is something that resembles McQueen’s charisma. Fimmel plays Harry, a petty car thief from Ohio recruited for the robbery by gangster uncle Enzo (William Fichtner), a foul-mouthed weasel from a Scorsese-style sage. There are a couple of hilarious culture shock scenes where these Midwestern hoods discover the pleasures of the sunshine state, gazing with hostility at the hot tub in the garden of their rented condo.
But this is truly an accident-free film, edited in two time slots to mask how much it is undercurrent and underwritten. In the first part, the robbery goes more or less according to plan, the gang makes a hole in the roof of the bank with dynamite late at night. Forest Whitaker outclasses everyone as an investigating FBI agent. Eight years later, Harry, who lives under a false name and works as a bartender, must explain to his girlfriend why his mug is on an FBI poster. It’s a forgettable film, with a few gags that hit a depressing and sexist note. (Example: “I have a dishwasher at home. I married her.”)
• Finding Steve McQueen is available from November 16 on digital platforms.
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