Masterminds on DVD

Masterminds
[DVD Masterminds] 

This is a comedy based on the true story of the Loomis Fargo robbery in October of 1997. David Ghantt – a guard at an armored car company – falls in love with former coworker Kelly Campbell. Campbell pretends to love him back and convinces him to steal the money he transports daily, around 17 million dollars. Campbell is following the orders of Steve Chambers and convinces Ghantt to leave the money with them and that she will meet him in Mexico soon. Chambers sets him up to take the fall, sending a hitman to kill him while he lives the rich life. Now Ghantt must evade both the police and the hitman while attempting to get his life back in order.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Keeping Up With the Joneses] [Also available in traditional print format.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Masterminds web site ]

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (on CD)

The Job
by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg [Compact Disc Evanovich]

The Job is the third in the Fox and O'Hare series of crime caper novels, co-written by bestselling authors Janet Evanovich (the Stephanie Plum novels among others) and Lee Goldberg (the Monk and Diagnosis Murder novels, among others). I've hugely enjoyed the audiobook versions of all three titles in the series so far -- The Heist, The Chase and The Job, although I'll have to say that The Job seems the weakest of the three to date. The series features by-the-book female FBI agent Kate O'Hare, reluctantly teamed up with con artist extraordinaire Nicolas Fox. Fox was O'Hare's obsession for many years -- tracking him from one huge con job to another but always having him slip away at the last second. When she finally caught him, he struck a deal with her FBI bosses, which they took -- he would help them go after the "big fish" (the criminals too big for law enforcement to catch by traditional methods), in return for staying out of prison. The catch is -- Kate is his "handler", coordinating his illicit FBI work, while still pretending to be hunting him down in the real world. Each of the novels features Fox and O'Hare assembling a team of specially skilled assistants, as they put together scams to take on big time criminals -- Fox luxuriating in his semi-official status, and Kate chafing at all the laws he's continuing to break. Meanwhile, their unresolved sexual tension is a constant source of witty banter. These novels feel like a light-hearted take on the old 1970s-era Mission Impossible television series, or its more recent spiritual successor Leverage, and the dialog is sharp and funny. They're not perfect, by any means, but they are a wonderful, light fluffy escape for readers in the mood for a quick read. The audiobook narrator, Scott Brick, does a tremendous job on this series. My only complaint is that the second and third books seemed to wrap up their plots way too quickly, with way too many plot threads hanging loose. But still fun to read! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]

[Also available in traditional print and Large Print formats.]

[ official Fox and O'Hare page on the official Janet Evanovich web site ]

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Robot & Frank

Robot and Frank
[DVD Robot]

I don't remember seeing this film play in Lincoln, but after seeing the film's trailer online, I was pleased to find it here in the libraries' collection. Robot & Frank is a charming, low-key, and thought-provoking little film, with a tremendous performance by Frank Langella as the titular "Frank". Set in the "near future", Frank is a retired cat burglar, whose children are concerned that he's no longer able to live on his own and take care of himself. Rather that place him in a nursing home, against his wishes, son Hunter buys Frank a personal robot -- a short humanoid artificial life form that well help cook, clean and look after Frank. Frank is initially resistant to having the robot, but when he recognizes some loopholes in the robot's behavioral programming, he decides to try to relaunch his burglary career with a little silicon sidekick. What could have been a light-hearted "caper" film featuring the odd-couple buddy team of Robot and Frank ultimately bec omes a far more emotional story as the plot progresses. Langella's interactions with Robot (voiced expertly by Peter Sarsggard) provide a surprising emotional center for this film, about lost opportunities and families that have drifted apart and need to find a way to get back together. I highly recommend this film! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Robot & Frank web site ]

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The Hot Rock

The Hot Rock
by Donald Westlake

On the same day that he is released from jail, Dortmunder, is asked by a pal, Andy Kelp, to help him steal a valuable emerald. The jewel has a buyer -- the United Nations ambassador from an African nation disputing the ownership of the emerald. Enter the various personalities of the heist team: Roger Chefwick is married and likes to work on his miniature railroad and to eat his wife's fudge. (I'm not sure if fudge is a reference to his sex life!) Another, Murch, lives with his mother and listens to street noises on record albums. Greenwood is a swinging single. The team stages a spectacular car crash into the building housing the emerald and the distraction works well; however, the three men actually stealing the jewel drop the glass case enclosing the emerald and so draw attention to themselves. The men run off, splitting up and as luck would have it, the thief with the emerald is the one caught by the police. To keep him from talking, his cohorts successfully spring him from the slammer. As they high-five one another in jubilation, they ask him about the emerald and he must give them the bad news -- he had to hide it in the police station! He'd swallowed it at the Coliseum—and got it back later, while in jail! Now the men break into the police station via helicopter. Wielding grenades, they enter the cell (in a very funny sequence) -- the cell is occupied by an old man in there for flashing -- but the jewel is not there. Greenwood, the once incarcerated thief, tells Dortmunder that he did tell his attorney where the stone was. Unfortunately, the attorney, Prosker, has committed himself to an insane asylum. Dortmunder plans yet another break-in. This time, they use a miniature railroad car, dubbed Tom Thumb, to invade the insane asylum, since the railroad tracks run nearby. Another very funny sequence wherein the asylum personnel chide the heist team for disturbing the inmates' sense of reality! Unimpressed with the scolding, the men kidnap Prosker. Prosker reveals that the emerald is in his safety deposit box at his bank. To access the box requires two keys -- his own and the one held by the bank. Now they get to rob a bank. Dortmunder hires a mentalist to hypnotize the bank guard into handing over the key to the safety deposit box. The mentalist rides the elevator with the man, successfully implanting the phrase that will be their prompt: "Afghanistan banana stand." -- recommended by Rianne S. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Donald Westlake web site ]

See more books like this in Rianne's Books With a Twist booktalk booklist

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Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
by Jeffrey Archer

Another caper story. After a savvy and wealthy American, Harvey Metcalfe, through a naïve employee, cons four Brits into investing into an oil company that then goes broke—as planned. One of the four, an Oxford don, invites the others to his lodgings for dinner and explains his idea: each of the four will come up with a plan to relieve Metcalfe of his earnings when he comes to England for Wimbledon, a ritual he follows every year. They will recover what they've lost, plus expenses: not a penny more, not a penny less. The four are: Stephen Bradley, Oxford don; Jean Pierre Lamanns, art dealer; Adrian Tryner, a Harley Street doctor; and James Clarence Spencer, Viscount Brigsley, heir to the 5th Earl of Louth. They agree to meet in a week's time to apprise and appraise the various plans. Every one except James comes up with a plan; James, however, has met a girl...The plot begins its many hairpin movements when they implement the various schemes—and as James struggles to devise one. -- recommended by Rianne S. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less page on the official Jeffrey Archer web site ]

See more books like this in Rianne's Books With a Twist booktalk booklist

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Duplicity

Duplicity

Checked this one out from the DVDs to Go shelves a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The chemistry between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen is remarkable, and the plot twists and turns of this film are quite intricate. This is not a film to have playing in the background and enjoy in bits and pieces. If you're going to watch this one, pop some popcorn, ignore your phone, and watching it straight through, paying attention to the details. In addition to Roberts and Owen, there are some marvelous supporting performances as well, particularly from Paul Giamatti as a bombastic corporate executive. Overall, the best phrase to describe Duplicity is "multi-layered fun." -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Duplicity web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Get Real

Get Real

by Donald Westlake

I'd never read any of the late Donald Westlake's Dortmunder books before the libraries' Just Desserts mystery discussion group selected Get Real for a recent monthly discussion. I loved it! What appeared, on the surface, to be an extremely spare writing style and simplistic descriptions actually turns out to be wholly appropriate for this cast of characters. Dortmunder is the "brains" behind a gang of thieves, whose capers inevitably run into serious difficulties. In Get Real, Dortmunder and his gang are hired to portray fictionalized versions of themselves in a reality tv series, in which they will be robbing a building owned by the series' production company. When Dortmunder and his cronies realize that there's hidden wealth in the building, they plot to really rob the building while at the same time "fake" robbing the building for the TV show. Sound complicated? It is, and, as usual, things go wrong in surprising ways. The only thing disappointing about this book was the fact that it ended. Guess I'll have to go back to 1972's The Hot Rock and read the Dortmunder books from the beginning. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Dortmunder booklist on BookGuide ] [ official Donald Westlake web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.