211 (film)
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| 211 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | York Shackleton |
| Screenplay by | York Shackleton John Rebus |
| Produced by | Isaac Florentine Jeffrey Greenstein Les Weldon Jonathan Yunger |
| Starring | Nicolas Cage Sophie Skelton Cory Hardrict Michael Rainey Jr. Ori Pfeffer Weston Cage |
| Cinematography | Alexander Krumov |
| Edited by | Ivan Todorov |
| Music by | Frederik Wiedmann |
Production company | Millennium Films |
| Distributed by | Momentum Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 86 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
211 is a 2018 American action film directed by York Shackleton and written by Shackleton and John Rebus. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Sophie Skelton, Cory Hardrict, Michael Rainey Jr., Ori Pfeffer and Weston Cage. Filming began on February 27, 2018 and ended on April 27, 2018. The film was released on June 8, 2018, by Momentum Pictures. It is based on the 1997 North Hollywood shootout.[2]
211 refers to the Hundred Code for robbery used in California, although the story is set in the fictional city of Chesterford, Massachusetts.
Plot
 | This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (August 2020) |
In Afghanistan, disgruntled mercenaries corner a mob boss who owes them money. Under torture, he discloses it has been wired to various banks including one in Chesterford. In a Kabul market, Interpol's Agent Rossi's operation to catch an antiquities smuggler is interrupted and she is redirected to the crime scene caused by the mercenaries.
In Chesterford, Massachusetts, Kenny Ralston, a quiet high school student, has an altercation with bullies. The school vice-principal tells Shawnee Ralston, Kenny's mother, that he must go on a police ride-along or face expulsion.
Meanwhile, Agent Rossi asks a gun store manager for information on the mercenaries and receives a warehouse address.
Patrolman Mike Chandler has lost his wife of thirty years to cancer. His difficulty in expressing his emotions has strained his relationship with his daughter, Lisa. Mike’s patrol partner and son-in-law, Steve, reveals that Lisa is pregnant.
At the bank, an armoured cash transport delivers over $1.3 million. Tre, Rob and Luke finalise their heist plan, while Hyde plants a cell-phone IED in a restaurant.
Mike and Steve arrive at work. Kenny signs forms regarding the ride-along. Responding to a call from headquarters, Steve and Mike draw their weapons on a suspect and Kenny records it using his smartphone.
The crew storm the bank and threaten everyone. Near the bank, Steve goes for coffee while Mike and Kenny discuss the school altercation. Gaining insight, Mike changes his mind regarding Kenny, admitting he would have acted similarly. On Steve’s return, Mike indicates a black Escalade parked in the red zone outside the bank. They cross a parking lot to investigate further and inside the bank, Tre orders Hyde to ‘make the call’. The IED destroys the restaurant.
Police headquarters alerts all patrols to the explosion. Mike chooses to remain because of Kenny and the less-dangerous ‘parking violation’. Hyde becomes agitated. The other patrols converge on the restaurant and news reaches the hospital where Shawnee prepares to receive multiple casualties. Hearing the news, Rossi diverts to Chesterford. First responders arrive and SWAT Captain, Horst, issues orders.
Hyde opens fire on the cruiser. As Mike takes evasive action, Steve alerts headquarters they are taking fire. Some officers leave the restaurant area to provide backup to Mike and Steve. Mike crashes the cruiser and gets out, returning fire. Initially trapped, Steve manages to free himself and then Kenny. Kenny grabs his phone as he exits the cruiser and Mike eventually kills Hyde. Realising Steve is seriously injured, Mike fabricates a tourniquet. Rossi arrives at the restaurant area and Hyde is identified.
The back-up team attempt to evacuate Steve and Mike retrieves a first aid kit. Inside the bank, Luke uses a 50-cal rifle to shoot Mike but misses. Two other officers are killed.
Lisa learns of the restaurant explosion and gets Steve’s voicemail. Steve gets Kenny to record a farewell message on his phone.
The back-up team reach their colleagues. Moving Steve, they become separated from Kenny who hides in a parked Blazer. His phone dead, Kenny looks for another battery and hacks a charger.
An EMT assesses Steve, Hanson returns with a seriously-wounded Jacobs and Mike notices Kenny is missing. Starting a search with Hanson, Mike receives a call from Lisa and prepares her for bad news. Lisa arrives at the ER and questions the now barely-conscious Jacobs who says Mike is still on scene looking for the 'ride-along kid'. Shawnee, in earshot of Jacobs, reacts just as Kenny telephones to let her know he is safe, for now.
Rossi arrives in the command post to witness Mike shouting that his dead son has ‘a child on the way’. Horst finalizes the breach. Mike and Hanson head for the parking lot to locate and rescue Kenny. SWAT advances. Tre orders the hostages out. Now safe, a hostage reveals something in her pocket. Horst, identifying another IED, dies selflessly protecting the hostages.
SWAT begin their breach but are repelled. Rob exits first, firing to cover his escape but gets killed. Luke is killed at the bank door. Tre approaches Mike firing wildly. Hanson is killed. Mike is wounded and as Tre raises his weapon to kill Mike, Kenny uses Hanson’s side arm to shoot Tre. Rossi appears and shoots Tre.
As Mike and Kenny sit in an ambulance, Shawnee arrives and hugs her son. Lisa arrives and embraces her father.
One year later, Mike arrives home after a run. He is greeted with shouts of Happy Birthday. Among his well wishers are Jacobs, Steve, and Mike’s granddaughter. Stepping towards his visitors, Mike asks Kenny to ‘take some new pics’.
Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Mike Chandler
- Dwayne Cameron as Steve MacAvoy
- Sophie Skelton as Lisa MacAvoy
- Alexandra Dinu as Agent Rossi
- Michael Rainey Jr. as Kenny Ralston
- Shari Watson as Shawnee Ralston
- Ori Pfeffer as Tre
- Sean James as Rob
- Weston Cage as Luke
- Michael Bellisario as Hyde
- Cory Hardrict as Officer Hanson
- Jonathan Yunger as Officer Delaney
- Sapir Azulay as Officer Jacobs
- Mark Basnight as Police Chief
- Atanas Srebrev as Captain Horst
- Aaron Cohen as Lieutenant
- Jason Francis as Police Pilot
- Velizar Binev as Randal
- Evgeniya Marinkova as Eleanor
- Laura Giosh Markova as Judith
- Amanda Cerny as Sarah
- Petar Mitev as Clerk
- Manal El Feutiry as Cute Waitress.
- George Zlatarev as Lt. Col. Moss
- Bashar Rahal as Major Rahimi
- Nadejda Ivanova as Natalia Bushkova
- Andrew Keelaghan as Ronald Donovan
- Raymond Steers as Mandell
- Derek Horse as Floyd
- Fedi Bashur as Brian
- Nick Donadio as Treadwell
- Aleksander Karastoyanov as Scott
- Jamieson Urquhart as Jeff
- Velislav Pavlov as Fisk
Production
On January 27, 2017, Nicolas Cage joined the cast of the film.[3] Filming took place at Nu Boyana studios in Sofia, Bulgaria.[4]
Release
The film was released on June 8, 2018, by Momentum Pictures.[5]
Reception
Critical response
The film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes rates it 4% positive based on 24 reviews with an overall rating of 2.52/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "211's disjointed assortment of action clichés and uninspired set pieces adds up to roughly zero."[6] Metacritic reports an aggregate score of 21 out of 100 (based on 8 critics), indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7]
Luke Y. Thompson of Forbes gave it a fresh rating, writing “I can’t begrudge you waiting until 211 shows up on a Blu-ray at Walmart that also contains ten other Cage movies...But I can tell you that when it does, you shouldn't skip over this one.”[8]
Other reviewers were not as complimentary.
Jacob Knight from Birth Movies Death declared it rotten, writing, “Nic Cage’s latest DTV action endeavour is a bizarre slog.”[9] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 2/4 and wrote, "A muddled, overcrowded, trigger-happy heist movie brimming with clichés while constantly trying our patience."[10] Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com gave it 1/4, describing it as "This effort is a cavalcade of crap. Loud crap."[11] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "It's probably foolish to wish that Nicolas Cage would once again make movies as good as Adaptation and Leaving Las Vegas. But is it too much to ask that he go back to the comparative glory days of Con Air and The Rock?"[12] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote, "Unsurprisingly, the director doesn't get very good work from a cast asked primarily to ramp up the intensity on stereotypes."[13]
References
- ^ "'211' Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ^ "See the trailer for York Shackleton's 211, very loosely based on the Battle of North Hollywood". 2018-05-02. Archived from the original on 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
- ^ Busch, Anita (2017-01-27). "Nicolas Cage To Star In Bank Heist Movie '211' For Millennium". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ^ Larsen, Peter (2018-06-07). ""Director York Shackleton found inspiration in a notorious North Hollywood bank robbery for his Nicolas Cage-starring heist film '211'"". Retrieved 2018-06-22.
- ^ "'211' Trailer: Nicolas Cage Puts Our Love To The Test With Another Film We Haven't Heard About". Theplaylist.net. 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ^ "211 reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "211 (2018)". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- ^ Thompson, Luke Y. (2018-06-07). "Review: Forget 'Inspired By' Because '211' Works Better As Nicolas Cage-Driven Fiction". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
- ^ Knight, Jacob (2018-06-11). "211 Review: Robbing The Bulgarian Tax Shelter". birthmoviesdeath.com. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- ^ Roeper, Richard (2018-06-07). "While 211 in progress Nicolas Cage mostly plays it cool". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (2018-06-08). "211". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- ^ Scheck, Frank (2018-06-07). "'211': Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ^ Harvey, Dennis (2018-06-06). "'211': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2018.