''Thick as Thieves'' (also known as ''The Code'') is a 2009 American/German
heist action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
thriller film directed by
Mimi Leder
Miriam Leder (; born January 26, 1952) is an American film and television director and producer noted for her action films and use of special effects.Hurd, Mary G. Women Directors and Their Films. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. She was the first f ...
, starring
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...
,
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...
, and
Radha Mitchell
Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell is an Australian actress. She started her career with various appearances on Australian television, including a regular role as Catherine O'Brien in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' (1996–97).
Mitchell la ...
. The film was released
direct-to-DVD
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
on April 17, 2009 in the United States and on October 18, 2010 in Germany.
Plot
In New York, veteran thief Keith Ripley recruits younger crook Gabriel Martin to help him pull off one final job in order to repay his debt to the
Russian mafia, who had killed his previous partner, Victor Korolenko, before they could complete the plan. Martin is unsure of Ripley, but Ripley's goddaughter, Alexandra Korolenko, who is Victor's daughter, convinces him otherwise, although Ripley does not like that the two are getting close. Ripley tells Martin the plan, that they are going to steal from a Russian museum that has been smuggling Russian treasures into the country and bribing the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
with large donations and expensive equipment. The two infiltrate a party at the museum posing as cops, with Ripley as Lt. Weber, who has a vendetta against Ripley, to gather information about their vault.
The Russian mob, led by Nicky Petrovitch, grow impatient and kidnap Alexandra, telling Ripley he must steal two
Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtual ...
s from the Russian Museum in order to get her back. When the duo get into the vaults of the museum with the eggs, Martin reveals he is an
undercover
To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...
cop from Miami planted by Weber to catch Ripley, leaves Ripley locked in the vault and informs Weber, while taking the eggs to the Russian mobster to free Alexandra. After Alexandra is released, Martin is forced to meet with Petrovitch, who reveals that the eggs they have stolen are made of wood. Meanwhile, Weber and his squad enter the museum, but are detained by the security guards due to Martin telling the guards he was a cop as he escaped.
Martin reports in to the police the next morning, after the police have picked up Petrovitch, only to learn that the man they have in custody is not the man Martin met, and that the man he met was actually Victor Korolenko, who had faked his death with Ripley's help. It is then revealed that Ripley had escaped, letting the museum know cops were on the way and that they had cleaned out the vault of all the smuggled items (which had included the eggs) before the police could inspect it, meaning there was no evidence that anything had been stolen and that Martin's testimony would be worthless as his actions have been kept off the book to prevent Ripley from finding out. Martin's involvement with Alex compromises him, and Ripley had to be let go.
Ripley later calls Martin from an
airport tarmac, ready to leave with Victor to meet with a buyer for the eggs; to tell him that they knew Martin was a cop from the beginning. Martin later meets up with Alex, who remained in New York, and who confesses that her feelings for him are real. Martin decides to become a thief.
Cast
Reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 5 critics.
David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews gave the film 2.5/4 and called it "...a hopelessly uneven endeavor that's consistently buoyed by Freeman's mere presence...".
Dragan Antulov of Draxblog Movie Reviews gave it 3/10 and wrote: "The sadness created by this film could be cured only by its quick descent in well-deserved oblivion."
Jason McKiernan at Filmcritic.com called it "sloppy, lazy, and unable to keep up with its own con."
David Cornelius at DVDTalk.com wrote: "Don't let the big names fool you: The Code is limp enough a thriller to deserve the direct-to-video treatment it's received."
References
External links
*
*
Thick as Thieves' at
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
{{Mimi Leder
2009 direct-to-video films
2009 films
2009 action films
2000s crime thriller films
2000s heist films
American action thriller films
American heist films
Films directed by Mimi Leder
Films scored by Atli Örvarsson
Films shot in New York City
Films set in New York City
Films shot in Bulgaria
MoviePass Films films
Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department
Films about the New York City Police Department
2000s English-language films
2000s American films