Entrapment (film)

Infobox Film
name = Entrapment

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caption = "Entrapment" movie poster
director = Jon Amiel
producer = Sean Connery
Michael Hertzberg
Rhonda Tollefson
writer = Ronald Bass
William Broyles Jr.
Don Macpherson
starring = Sean Connery
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Will Patton
Maury Chaykin
and Ving Rhames
music = Christopher Young
cinematography = Phil Meheux
editing = Terry Rawlings
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = flagicon|Malaysia April 29, 1999
flagicon|United States April 30, 1999
runtime = 113 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $66,000,000 US (est.)
amg_id = 1:177521
imdb_id = 0137494

"Entrapment" (1999) is an American film directed by Jon Amiel, and starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The original music score was composed by Christopher Young.

Plot synopsis

Virginia "Gin" Baker (Zeta-Jones) is an investigator who works for a top insurance agency. Robert "Mac" MacDougal (Connery) is an international art thief who likes a challenge. A priceless Rembrandt is stolen from an office one night: Gin suspects that Mac is the thief, so she is sent to investigate him. She tries to entrap him with a proposition, claiming that she is an art thief. She promises she will help him steal a priceless Chinese mask from a well-guarded palace. They travel to Scotland, and plan the complicated theft at Mac's hideout, an isolated castle on a small island. While Mac is busy making final preparations, Gin contacts her boss, Hector Cruz (Patton), and informs him of Mac's whereabouts. Little does she know that the island is bugged, allowing Mac to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Just after they complete it, Mac accuses Gin of planning to sell the mask to a buyer in Kuala Lumpur, and then turn him in. Gin convinces him that her insurance agency job was a cover up, and that she has planned an even bigger job in Kuala Lumpur: $8 billion from the International Clearance Bank, in the Petronas Towers. They manage to pull the job off, but Cruz warns the building's security about their plans. Realizing the crooks were in one of the elevators, the guards shut it down. Nevertheless, Gin and Mac escape, via hanging Christmas lights and ventilation shafts. Since Gin lost her parachute in the escape, Mac gives her his. He tells her to meet her the next morning at the Pudu train station at 6:30 AM. The next morning, Gin arrived at the station waiting for Mac. Minutes later from the planned time, he shows up with Cruz and the FBI. Mac nearly hands Gin to the FBI, knowing that she was a master thief herself. He explains that the FBI had been looking for her for quite some time. When he was caught, Mac made a deal with the agency to help them arrest Gin. Still, the aging thief has another plan to let her go, as he is getting old and she has got her life ahead of her. Gin persuades Mac to come with her. She holds Mac hostage threatening to shoot him if the agents follow her. However, she tricked them and boarded a train, leaving them behind. As the FBI agents walk away, another train arrives, and Gin suddenly appears. She tells Mac that she still needs him for another job. The two thieves kiss as the film ends.

Filming locations

Filming locations for the film include:
*Blenheim Palace
*Savoy Hotel London
*Lloyd's of London,
*Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull in Scotland
*The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
*The Bukit Jalil train stopNote: The set for the Petronas Towers was built on Pinewood Studios

Critical reaction

The film opened to mixed or average reviews [ [http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/entrapment?q=Entrapment Entrapment (1999): Reviews ] ] as described by Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as receiving only 37% positive reviews. [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/entrapment/ Entrapment Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes ] ] Critics focused on a scene where Zeta-Jones worms around a net of laser beams. The camera lingers on her buttocks through much of the scene. Critic Scott Weinberg said "OK, if you own a TV then you've seen that scene. You know the one. It's when Catherine Zeta-Jones squirms her beautiful rear down onto the floor to avoid a laser alarm system. It's shown on the commercial, the preview and in the movie itself like 7 times. The challenge is this: Build a movie around it." [ [http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1551&reviewer=128 Movie Review - Entrapment - eFilmCritic ] ] The laser scene was choreographed by Paul Harris, who also choreographed the wand to wand combat sequences in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

Other critics such as "The New York Times", [ [http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/043099entrap-film-review.html 'Entrapment': They're a Devilish Match, but Who's Conning Who? ] ] "New York Magazine", [ [http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/68/ Some Like It Hotter ] ] the "Chicago Sun-Times", [http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1999/04/043003.html] "Variety", [ [http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117492064&categoryid=31&cs=1 Entrapment Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie Entrapment ] ] and Desson Howe/Thomson of the "Washington Post" [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/entrapmenthowe.htm 'Entrapment' (PG-13) ] ] praised the film.

The film was also a box office success, grossing over $87 million domestically.

Malaysian reaction

Complaints arose that the movie depicted Malaysia as a backwards country and was misportrayed. The controversy arose from one scene in particular, where a shantytown in Malacca was superimposed over a tilt shot of the then recently constructed Petronas Towers.

In popular culture

* The film was parodied in the 2001 film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"; one scene featured five female leather-clad crooks trying to steal a bag of diamonds at an exchange center. In order to get through the security lasers (which are blue instead of red), they perform backflips. Unfortunately, the heist goes wrong when one of them farts, setting off the alarms.
* The film was also parodied by Danish dance-pop group Aqua in their video for the song, "Around the World", where the band members try to steal a valuable red jewel.

References

Bollywood movie [Dhoom-2] (2006) was a direct take from Entrapment where Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai potrayed similar characters in similar circumstances amidst Bollywood Mix.

External links

* [http://www.foxmovies.com/entrapment/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0137494|title=Entrapment
*amg title|id=1:177521|title=Entrapment

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Life
date = May 2nd
year = 1999
after = The Mummy