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A few minutes into this romantic cat-and-mouse flick, a master thief (Pierce Brosnan) taunts his FBI-agent pursuer (Woody Harrelson) by asking him to return a copy of Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief to the video store. Perhaps director Brett Ratner shouldn’t have begun this running gag, because it raises expectations that his film might be charming or inventive. Whereas Hitchcock learned his craft from Weimar Germany’s best, it seems that Ratner went to T&A film school; he structures the editing around "establishing shots" of Salma Hayek’s cleavage and backside. And this too is a mere tease, since Hayek and Brosnan are unable to crib the subtle sexual calculus of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant — Brosnan and Harrelson create more sparks in their one bed scene. Aside from a few witty one-liners, After the Sunset reincarnates neither classical Hollywood’s grace nor Hitchcock’s finesse. (100 minutes)
BY MATTIAS FREY
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