Entrapment

(Caper film)

Entrapment

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Before certain pontificators have seizures over the roughly 40-year age difference between the two leads, it should be pointed out that the will-they-or-won't-they tension is the main thing this picture has going for it. Connery's master thief is a loner whose ethical codes preclude his emotional involvement with a professional partner, but then again, he undoubtedly hasn't ever had a partner that looked like Zeta-Jones. And even if you were a beauteous young woman who, as she freely admits, had never met anyone she couldn't manipulate or seduce at will, it seems reasonable that you'd at least think about checking out a man as rugged and charismatic as he is, age be damned.

The possibility of romance is, in fact, more believable than anything else here. After a Rembrandt is stolen from a New York highrise by a mysterious figure who daringly dangles hundreds of feet in the air and enters the building using high-tech gadgetry, insurance investigator Gin Baker (Zeta-Jones) convinces her boss, Hector Cruz (Will Patton), that the culprit is legendary art thief Robert "Mac" MacDougal (Connery) and gets the green light to track him down in London. It's just 14 days before the turn of the millennium, and Mac gets the upper hand on his pursuer at once by invading her hotel room as she sleeps, then whisking her off to his castle in Scotland.

Acknowledging that they can't possibly trust each other yet, the two nonetheless plot a job together that takes the picture through its first hour. A unique Chinese mask on display at an English museum is the object of their desire, and Mac puts his impressively limber young collaborator through some rigorous training -- part choreography, part gymnastics -- that will enable her to evade the crisscrossing laser beams of the alarm system that protects the mask. In fact, the exercises exist only as an excuse for the audience to ogle and admire the leotard-clad Zeta-Jones as she dexterously slithers her way through an intricate obstacle course, but few viewers will complain.

Despite their outward cooperation, Mac is still rightly suspicious of his bright and talented new partner, especially after he overhears her calling in a progress report to New York. But they go through with the theft of the mask, then hightail it to Malaysia, where Gin is to deliver the artifact to a mad old crime queen (Maury Chaykin). Here she unveils to Mac her strategy for a stupendous computer heist.

Fundamental silliness of Ron Bass and William Broyles' script is perhaps best exemplified by the plot point that Gin and Mac have precisely one day to prepare for a job that requires them to penetrate the elaborate security of the bank -- scenically located in the tallest buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Idea has something to do with bank transfers that Gin believes she can intercept due to the computer changeovers required by arrival of the year 2000; if all goes well, she and Mac can funnel $8 billion their way while everyone else is watching midnight fireworks.

Without so much as a quip about what this might do to the Asian economy, the pair plot their hoped-for payday, although Mac's trusted high-tech supplier (Ving Rhames, just punching the clock here) and Cruz hover threateningly as they try to figure out what's going on. Action climax makes full use of the ornate tapering towers. Coy attempt to resolve pic's "serious" plot elements at a prolonged train station scene makes what's come before seem plausible by comparison.

Director Jon Amiel knows the territory well enough to supply glamorous locations and nifty crime-assisting gizmos in a fancy package, but he's neglected to put anything inside the box. That leaves it to the stars, who, to their credit, carry their heavy load with no apparent strain.

As sure-handed as ever, Connery, who doubled as a producer, is commanding in his role as a guarded Pygmalion to the young upstart in his charge but letting on, through little grunts and looks, how unsettled he is by her allure. After her winning breakthrough perf last year in "The Mask of Zorro," the stunning Zeta-Jones here displays an unmistakable confidence and assurance in this full-blown starring role, more than holding her own with her veteran partner.

Film suffers from its lack of subplots and supporting characters. Tech credits are highly polished.