Empire State (2013) 5.2
Two childhood friends plan to rob an armored car depository. An NYPD officer stands in their way. Director:Dito MontielWriter:Adam Mazer |
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Empire State (2013) 5.2
Two childhood friends plan to rob an armored car depository. An NYPD officer stands in their way. Director:Dito MontielWriter:Adam Mazer |
|
Watch Trailer 0Share... |
Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Liam Hemsworth | ... | ||
Michael Angarano | ... |
Eddie
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Dwayne Johnson | ... | ||
Paul Ben-Victor | ... |
Tommy
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Jerry Ferrara | ... | ||
Greg Vrotsos | ... |
Mike Dimitriu
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Michael Rispoli | ... |
Tony
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Emma Roberts | ... | ||
Nikki Reed | ... |
Lizzette
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Wayne Pére | ... |
Williams
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Craig Leydecker | ... |
Chilewski
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Shenae Grimes-Beech | ... |
Eleni
(as Shenae Grimes)
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Sharon Angela | ... |
Dina
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Chris Diamantopoulos | ... |
Spiro
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Lucky Johnson | ... |
Phil Johnson
(as Kevin 'Lucky' Johnson)
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After failing to get into the police academy, Chris Potamitis (Liam Hemsworth), settles for a security guard job with the EMPIRE STATE Armored Truck Company. Chris makes the mistake of mentioning the company's lax security to his best friend, Eddie (Michael Angarano), and is soon unwittingly drawn into an elaborate scheme to rob the abundant amounts of cash being stored there - resulting in the largest cash heist in U.S. History. As the stakes continue to rise, Chris and Eddie must outwit James Ransone (Dwayne Johnson), the veteran NYPD Detective that is hot on their trail, as well as the local crime bosses that want to know who pulled a job on their turf, or suffer the consequences. Written by Lionsgate
(Credit IMDb) A drama centered on two childhood friends who plan to rob an armored car depository, and the NYPD officer who stands in their way.
I've seen a lot worse when it comes to STD movies, but this just wasn't all that interesting in the whole scheme of things. For a true story, you would think more effort would be necessary. My main problem with Empire State is how bland it is. It doesn't have that much action what so ever, and it lacks the emotional punch needed for a film of this magnitude, and the cast just simply isn't up for the challenge. I garnered no emotional stimulus between Chris (Liam Hemsworth) & Michael Angarano (Eddie) because not only did the film not make me care about their fates, but their performances were rather poor. Liam Hemsworth is not lead material, and made for a very boring lead. He also felt miscast, and forced in the lead role. Michael Angarano isn't much better. He grated my nerves with his wise-ass character, and I felt like smacking that smug look off his face. His chemistry with Hemsworth was off as well. Dwayne Johnson is criminally wasted in this movie as a detective. Whenever he appeared on screen, my interest level was raised significantly, but that was much too seldom for my liking. Dwayne has a gift when it comes to charisma, and the fact that he has such a small role here is incorrigible. He was far too good to have such a small part in this movie. Emma Roberts is barely in this movie, aside from a few pointless scenes. We get scattered clips in the beginning and the end of the real life events that took place, but it didn't matter much to me.
Final Thoughts: A rather mundane account of a true story. I'm not gonna tell you to avoid it, but don't expect riveting entertainment. It's not a very good movie, and it went straight to DVD for a reason.
4/10