Coin Heist

There are enough things inherent in "Coin Heist" that it really shouldn't work. The plot is outlandish, the ending descends into schmaltz, and (at heart) it's a teen coming-of-age drama (not like there are any of those floating around these days). However, despite all the unevenness and clichés, "Coin Heist" still manages to at least be entertaining due to the great acting and slickness of the setup.

For a basic plot summary (no spoilers), "Coin Heist" sees Jason (Alex Saxon) struggling with the reality that his father has been stealing from his high school's endowment, leaving the father in prison and the school in danger of shutting down. After a field trip to the U.S. mint, however, Jason's friend Alice (Alexis G. Zall), a hacker at heart and in skill, devises a plan to infiltrate the mint and print some rare coins that can be sold to save the school. The plan will only work, however, if they can also rope in organization queen Dakota (Sasha Pieterse) and outsider Benny (Jay Walker).

For the first half or so of "Coin Heist", I was invested in the characters and their mission. The producers do a great job of setting up the backgrounds of each character, and I really felt like they could be real high-schoolers. Sure, their mission is highly improbable, but that's what cinema is all about, right?!

The problem, however, is that after that roughly half-way point my investment really started to wane for two reasons:

1. The build-up to the caper was much more interesting than the caper itself; and 2. I felt that the ending descending into a bit too much hijinx and corniness for my liking. I realize this is a film directed at teens, so perhaps it plays a bit better to that demographic, but for an older viewer it seemed like a bit of a letdown to build up these great characters and then have them, in most cases, succumb to the tropes of the genre I was afraid would happen from the get-go.

So, while I can easily give "Coin Heist" a slightly-better-than-average 6 out of 10 stars here, I feel that it failed to take that "next step" into the greatness range due to its "running out of steam" in the latter portion. The target audience (teens) may disagree with me here, of course.

The story was so overly simple and not exciting in the least. The acting was on par with what you'd expect with this kind of movie. It was just a hard watch.

If you can appreciate a decent heist story pulled of by decent teenage characters, without Hollywood production values, then you should really give this a try.

Emily Hagins wrote and directed and I think she did a fine job with the adaptation from a novel. The narrative had a strong even pace and it never dragged. The young actors gave it their all, and I think they pulled it off just fine.

Don't be too critical of these small indie efforts, and you'll find a gem or two. "Coin Heist" may not have the huge budget that the "Oceans" series had, but the story was just as interesting and just as well told.

Enjoy it.

The premise is wonderful, the actuality of the script is bonkers. Unlike another reviewer here I do not find Netflix Originals groundbreaking in totality They are some of the worst put together movies I have ever seen. They are even starting to produce Lifetime-like movies only using b-c list actors instead of f-g list ones. This movie is watchable however... not mad at it. Just absurd in the sense that none of this could really happen.

Anyone who sees Coin Heist needs to have clear expectations as to what this film is and isn't. They should know going in to not expect the greatest heist movie you've ever seen or expect the production value to match some of Netflix's finest originals. Then again, it's definitely not the worst - it meets at an in-between mediocre groove that neither provides the audience with anything worth seeing and also doesn't "hurt" the viewer.

Right off the bat, the film's biggest flaw is its weak script and honestly cringe-worthy dialogue (more in the first half of the movie). The premise itself isn't inherently terrible but a few minutes into the movie, the audience will be able to tell it was written very poorly. Very, very poorly. Since this is such a big flaw, the movie itself suffers as a whole and doesn't make a great time.

That being said, there are some saving graces that make it easy to watch. First, the performances in general weren't bad. Particularly a few of the leads were actually good and the cast's effort in trying to sell the plot actually turned out believable in many cases. It's just a shame some decently talented actors are in a blander film then they should be. Second, it's shot consistency well throughout the picture. The cinematography and "look" to the film includes vibrant and visually compelling shots that make it even easier to watch. The editing also reflects a straightforward, precise feel that helps the film move at a very comfortable place that leaves no room for boredom.

If anyone is looking for an easy to watch, substance free flick to play at a party for some background entertainment, this will do just fine. If they're looking for a more well written movie to have a better time with and enjoy more thoroughly, this is far from it. Despite its strengths, the terrible writing does indeed place this movie in the "negatives" but definitely isn't the worst you'll find. All in all, it would be best to pass on this one since there are just so many better Netflix originals out there.