They say don't go into business with friends.

Rating: 7/10 (23 September 2010)

I don't think this is the crime film it would like to think it is. I gave this movie a 7 on the grounds of it being an action movie. One more sensical than The A Team, Takers, or the like.
I don't think it functions as an effective crime/drama/thriller, because the aspects of criminality are laughable. Either that, or the intent of this film was to portray a bunch of idiots with automatic weapons brutishly ransacking rent-a-cops and incompetently prepared banks. If the latter was the intent, it'd still commit to being over-wrought and sensationalized (the blueprinting voice-overs detailing the guards, the elaborate cosplay, etc.).
People on these boards have pointed out the lack of foundation in the characters; Hamm as a thin hellbent 'detective,' any relational chemistry between Lively and Renner in regards to Affleck. Or even the flame between Lively and Affleck shoddily shoved in to facilitate the plot. But my main concern regarding Affleck and Renner's characters are that they seem to both be very unintelligible.
Renner is crazy--impulsive, like Waingro in Heat, sit his ass in time out, or tell him to cut that sh!t out. And Doug (Affleck), is a moron, willfully compromising his team. So he loves her? Grow up. You don't always live happily ever after. Maybe you shouldn't sometimes. Not that the film made it tangible past words anyhow. If these guys love each other so much, act professional for their own sakes.
I hope there is a director's cut out there so I can make more substantial sense of these inferences. Maybe some transitioning scenes to establish plot elements better.
Thanks for reading.