David R. Walker

Archive for January, 2025

Den of Thieves: Pantera

Director: Christian Gudegast

Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Cristian Solemino, Nazmiya Oral, Dino Kelly, Fortunato Cerlino, Yasen Zates Atour

Running time: 2 hours and 24 minutes

Languages: French, English, Flemish, Italian

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

American director Christian Gudegast follows up his 2018 heist film Den of Thieves with the flashy sequel Den of Thieves: Pantera reuniting cast members Gerard Butler (Plane, Kandahar, 300, Copshop, Greenland) and O’Shea Jackson Jr (Cocaine Bear, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) as L.A. cop Big Nick O’Brien and master thief Donnie Wilson.

This time Den of Thieves: Pantera is set on the French Riviera, the pristine and glamourous location of Nice on the La Cote d’Azur.

Following a brazen theft of diamonds that arrived on a flight from Johannesburg to Antwerp, Donnie Wilson joins a gang of thieves lead by Jovanna played by Swedish Kurdish actress Evin Ahmad.

Nick O’Brien after extracting information out of a stripper in L.A. about the missing millions gets a tip that Donnie Wilson is in Nice, follows him there where he meets the French police unit Pantera headed by Hugo played by Yasen Zates Atour (Robin Hood).

O’Brien teams up with Donnie Wilson who gradually lets him into his gang of thieves. The only catch is the one diamond belongs to a Sardinian crime family whose mobster would like the diamond back.

After a breathtakingly elaborate heist at the ultra-secure Diamond centre in downtown Nice, a double cross occurs on the road between France and Italy and soon Donnie Wilson realizes who he can trust.

Den of Thieves: Pantera is heavy on intrigue and light on action except for a thrilling car chase in a tunnel but what director Christian Gudegast does well is build up the pace of this film about a Mediterranean diamond heist, so when the theft does take place, the action is compelling.

Nice as a city works well as a location and while the first film was very action heavy on the L.A. streets, Den of Thieves: Pantera has a glossy international feel about it, which is more character driven filled with intrigue and bravado. The screenplay with multiple languages also written by Christian Gudegast is edgy focusing more on masculine friendship and betrayal with a dash of mafia menace thrown in.

The exterior shots of Nice and Sardinia are gorgeous and the sports cars are awesome too. This is an intriguing European heist film proving that there is definitely no honour amongst thieves.

Den of Thieves: Pantera gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is an entertaining action film assisted by two suitably macho performances by Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr whose character’s relationship switches between rivalry and deceit. Recommended viewing for fans of Gerard Butler action films.

Took Place on Sunday 5^th January 2025 in Los Angeles and hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Beverly Hilton Hotel – Here are the 2025 Golden Globe Winners in the Film Categories:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

The Brutalist

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Emilia Perez

Best actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Best actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Demi Moore – The Substance

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Sebastian Stan – A Different Man

Best Supporting Actress in any Motion Picture

Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez

Best Supporting Actor in any Motion Picture

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Best Director – Motion Picture

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Best Screenplay – Motion picture

Peter Straughan – Conclave

Best motion picture – Animated

Flow

Best Motion picture – Non-English Language

Emilia Perez

Best Original score – Motion Picture:

Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor – Challengers

We Live in Time

Director: John Crawley

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Adam James, Douglas Hodge

Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

There was hardly any pre-publicity for this film and I can see why.

Brooklyn and The Goldfinch director John Crawley’s non-linear romantic drama We Live In Time featuring Oscar nominees Florence Pugh (Little Women) and Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Tick Tick Boom) star as a young couple Tobias, an ad executive for Weetbix and Almut, head chef for a Anglo-Bavarian restaurant in a film which doesn’t elevate into a truly memorable drama.

Unfortunately screenwriter Nick Payne decided for some bizarre reason to mix up the chronological order of this couple’s timeline of romance from the initial meeting literally by accident to their eventual coupling and then pregnancy and the dramatic birth of their first child, a daughter. So the storyline comes across as confusing and uninteresting made worse by the fact that Andrew Garfield’s character Tobias had no character defects or recognizable foibles.

There was nothing eccentric or vaguely sexy about Tobias. The whole film basically centred on Almut’s character well played to a degree by Florence Pugh but one got the feeling that this character also needed more depth.

Almut is an ambitious chef that wants to enter an international cuisine competition but battles between raising a daughter and dealing with a devastating ovarian cancer diagnosis. Pugh does her best in an essentially very mediocre film in which her male lead brings nothing of value to a film about two quirky ordinary people whose lives are not even that fascinating. These characters are not eccentric or rich or even evil. They are just boring.

At least in Babygirl both Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson’s characters were both so utterly compelling and kinky.

Adam James from the Belgravia TV series appears briefly as Almut’s mentor Simon Maxson and Douglas Hodge (Joker, Gemini Man) stars as Tobias’s dad Reginald. Both actors unfortunately don’t add any real value to the narrative.

We Live in Time is utterly underwhelming as a film and you cannot make the main backdrop of a romantic film the dreary Herne Hill in London. Set the film in Tuscany or Provence.

Romance needs to be alluring and beautiful, not dull and depressing, which is what this film is.

Despite Florence Pugh’s best efforts, We Live In Time is a depressing, confusing and extremely dull British romantic drama which is best avoided.  

We Live In Time gets a film rating of 6 out of 10 and lacks any character depth and genuine conflict beyond the tragic subject of cancer and chemotherapy. Even in this romantic drama, there are very few fleeting moments to cherish. Not recommended viewing.