The Perfect Heist (1997)

Of Minimal Merit.

The video package for this amateurish affair displays its title as THE PERFECT HEIST, but as the opening credits appear, it becomes PRIME SUSPECTS, representative of a slapdash quality apparent throughout the piece, a confused crime melodrama with a pair of struggling New York City actors as principal characters, who become enveloped in the aftermath of a payroll robbery that garnered $500,000 for the three involved bandits. The holdup is organized by a psychopath named Jonah (or Amos, or Zach), played by Lance McGinnis, who kills two men during its commission, and his return to New York six months after to implement final division of the take results in the deaths of his former crime partners, each of whom was somewhat connected with would-be actor Hudson (David Scott Gordon) and his Thespian girl friend Kate (Judith Stout), and it is not long before the lovers are desperately trying to cover their tracks in order to avoid Jonah as well as suspicious police department detectives. The film is very poorly made, hindered by an overambitious screenplay full of embarrassing flaws in logic, and weakly directed in his first effort by actor James MacPherson, but a viewer should keep in mind that a minuscule budget ($1000) is not adequate funding for any piece, even one such as this wherein cast and crew members are often interchangeable, while the camerawork of Abe Schrager, effectively employing both videotape and 16mm. stock, does provide a factor of skill in support of the obviously earnest, albeit unpaid, players.
May 29, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...