It’s tough to say what Entrapment will be remembered better for: Sean Connery’s hairpiece, or Catherine Zeta-Jones’s ass. I pick the ass, and the way it’s featured in the trailers for Entrapment, I’d say the producers do too.

If only the rest of the movie was so interesting. While the idea is pretty cool: a cop and an art thief tangle in a cat and mouse game, constantly switching sides, all on the eve of the millennium... it’s the execution that gets ‘em every time.

Connery’s the thief, and he does fine work. Zeta-Jones is the cop. Well, she’s not a cop. She’s an, um, well, how do I put it? She’s an insurance agent -- although unlike any I’ve ever encountered... not by a long shot. And when Connery steals a valuable Rembrandt, does insurance boss Will Patton send in the feds to catch him? No! He sends Z-J. Why not?

Well, most of Entrapment plays out in head-scratching “Huh? Why? Eh?” moments like these. Like how do you “download” money off of a mainframe? Why doesn’t Connery have locks on the doors to his castle? Can you just check valuable art in your baggage? Why would you leave DNA evidence (on gum) at the scene of the crime? And how do you get away with the crime if they know exactly who you are? And why does an insurance agent get to carry a gun?

There are no answers to these little riddles... but it’s really moments like Zeta-Jones playing gymnast through “invisible laser beams” and the constant “disappearing behind a moving train” maneuvers that really had ‘em rolling in the aisles in our screening.

That’s not to say that Entrapment isn’t without its little charms. There’s exotic locales, clever hi-tech gadgetry, and of course, the aforementioned ass. Something to remember when the plot’s a distant memory.

The presskit claims Entrapment was sold to Fountainbridge Films after a Ron Bass pitch only seven lines long.

Sounds about right.



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