The Trust (dir. Alex Brewer and Benjamin Brewer, 2016)
The Trust was it for Jerry Lewis: his last time he schlepped himself out of his trailer and onto a film set. He got to play Nicolas Cage’s father in a couple of scenes in a heist movie that didn’t exactly go straight to streaming, but might as well have. I suppose there are worse ways to end a career. There’s always Joan Crawford’s turn in Trog.
Anyway, The Trust.
Jim Stone (Cage) and David Waters (Elijah Wood) are a pair of workaday Las Vegas police officers whose best option is to keep their heads down low and work toward their pensions. They do not do this because Stone stumbles upon information that points to a drug dealer out on bail in possession of a large amount of cash. Waters is adrift in his own life—get it—and goes along with Stone’s plan to rob this criminal. From there, things spiral out in standard heist movie fashion.
It’s a competently made film, which isn’t saying a whole lot when there are thousands and thousands of other movies instantly available, and a not insignificant portion of those made in the last decade just happen to star Nicolas Cage, too. Cage isn’t totally disengaged here and Elijah Wood is fine. There’s just not enough in either character to demand much effort for them. The only surprise to be found in the film is how quickly the leads turn to violence, but there’s no twist that you haven’t seen before. You do get to see Steven Williams as a security guard, but his appearance is as brief as Jerry Lewis’s.
Still, there are worse things to watch while cleaning or doing laundry.
oliveresque 