Cash Out

John Travolta joined his former Face/Off star Nicolas Cage in going to VOD movies several years ago.

Travolta cannot even get a cameo in mainstream movies anymore.

That does not stop him from delivering an engaging performance. A reason why he has lasted for 50 years in this business.

The producers of Cash Out were so convinced that it will find an audience. A sequel has already been made.

There is a touch of Out of Sight about this movie. Mason Goddard (Travolta) leads a team that includes his inept brother Shawn (Lukas Haas) to pull off various heists.

A sports car heist goes wrong when his long time squad member Amelia (Kristin Davis) turns out to be an undercover agent.

They manage to escape and Mason is on an enforced retirement.

That is until a few months later, Shawn has got involved in a plan to rob a valuable crypto-wallet from a safety deposit box in a bank. Mason tags along knowing his brother will screw up.

The robbery doesn't go as intended. They now have hostages. Amelia shows up as a hostage negotiator. The box does not contain a crypto-wallet.

It is a dirt box owned by a shady billionaire crook. If the contents are spilled, everyone could end up dead.

On the basis of a low budget VOD movie, this is enjoyable enough. As long as you keep expectations low.

Some of the story does not make much sense. The cast give it their all though but there is a lack of chemistry between Travolta and Davis.

Although technically speaking, this movie is objectively not well-produced, the featherweight stakes keep it from sinking under the gravity of any sort of pretention. A movie like this can't jump the shark because it never builds itself up enough to let the viewer down. It's floating above the proverbial lake from first moment of the first scene. It is clear that the care and craftsmanship of a masterpiece has not been afforded this job. Although the movie has the production values of an 80s TV action pilot, Travolta was surprisingly compelling, relatively speaking. His natural charisma just brings a minimal level of cresibility, and ge is able to almost single-handedly hold the viewer's interest. It was not surprising to read in the Trivia section that the director abandoned the project before the end of principle filming. Yet, it was easy to watch, the way sit-coms are easy to watch after dinner while your meal digests, and you really don't need anything other than an uncomplicated diversion.

Jump right in from the get go and just accept that this heist crew is insanely competent at all things. There is no groundwork explaining who these people are and how they became such elite thieves. So yeah ok its a movie we don't have time to get into all that. They make a get-away after getting betrayed by one of their own crew in the opening scene. Then it cuts right to them chilling out in comfort without a worry in the world. They were betrayed by none other than an FBI agent who was romantically involved with Travolta's lead character. So this woman was a mole in their heist operation and the FBI just never ever goes after them? They obviously planted a mole and participated in almost catching the crew but no man hunt or anything.

The crew is roped into another brainless heist and without any scouting or research they go all in. The heist doesn't go as planned and requires them to play detective in order to figure out what and how to steal this precious item. What elite criminal gang would rob something they aren't even told what they're stealing, such a ridiculous premise. Eventually, they get what they're after and they come up with an escape plan that is virtually impossible to fathom even in the movies. This is pure fantasy in the realm of heists and getaways. None of this is believable including the lead police officer who was wearing a law enforcement outfit straight out Party City.

Watch this if you are a JT fan but don't expect anything but head scratching drama.

Mason Goddard (John Travolta) and Amelia Decker (Kristin Davis) lead a team of expert robbers. Amelia turns out to be an undercover FBI agent, but she fails to arrest the group. A few months later, Mason is semi-retired and has to stop his unreliable brother Shawn (Lukas Haas) from a wild robbery scheme.

The starting premise is fine although what it turns into makes a lot less sense. In fact, it makes next to no sense. I do like the lighter tone of this standard bank robbery caper. I hate the swooping drone shots. It's been years since that's innovative and it gets tiresome. The bank manager is kinda fun. Travolta is still doing this character and it has rarely worked. He needs to add in more vulnerability. This is a B-movie and nothing more.

Yep - John Travolta has now sadly joined the likes of Cage, Willis, Gibson and Russell Crowe in making god-awful movies for an easy paycheck and frankly it's sad to see. I mean from Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Swordfish and Pulp Fiction to THIS absolute garbage! Why?

This terrible 'straight to streaming' trash lacks any sembelence of credibility, excitement or originality from the start and while Travolta still has the charisma to mail in a decent enough performance the rest of the cast (including a washed up Kristin Davis and usually decent Lukas Haas) are as throwaway in their parts as the lacklustre script is.

I actually gave up and switched off less than half way through this botched bank heist debacle it was that bad - there really is nothing to keep you interested or engaged here folks.

Amazingly, there seems to be a sequel already in the works!!... which is about as enticing as a fistful of crypto = sad times as Hollywood continues to churn out mundane rubbish and once respected actors become a parody of themselves. What actually happened to GREAT MOVIES starring great actors?!