How to Steal 2 Million (2011) Reviews

• Haunting and interesting

  dmackay-606-9822252012-01-12

  This movie had lots of potential, only some of which has been exploited. Unlike most other South African movies, this movie is not dealing with some huge, serious issue, does not deal with Mandela and is also not filled with toilet humor. This is just your normal thriller / action movie which America churns out in a nauseating volume. Now its South Africa's turn and I think a good job was done. I thought the camera work was good (and haunting with the muted colors) and the acting was acceptable. No one is going to be winning any Oscars for the movie, but I don't feel like I wasted my time watching this. I loved the gritty feel and the moments of surprising violence at unexpected times (although budget clearly didn't allow for any special effects showing the detail of the more gruesome parts). If you have the time, take out the DVD, watch and enjoy.

• A weak cheap budget movie & a waste of my eyes

  seka-gaula2011-12-13

  I watched this movie with great anticipation albeit I reserved my skepticism. The movie is intriguing due to its star-studded local cast, though unknown internationally. It circulates around a man dubbed Jack, who's just done some time in prison & is now endeavouring to launch a construction firm to rid himself off crime. However, he receives a tempting offer from his old acquintance, Twala. Twala's father, Julius, has R2 million stuck in the safe of his house. Twala entices Jack to to organise a friend to rob the R2 million from his father. Jack then approaches some woman, Olive, and they prosperously manage to get the R2 million by holding Julius & his security at gunpoint. Julius then manages to recognise Jack as one of the two robbers & gets to confront him. Cut to the chase, in the end, Jack murders Julius & then a cat fight about the money commences. Jack then goes to dig a hole where he hid the money and gets killed by Twala, who was following just behind him. Twala himself gets killed by some untrustworthy police officer (or so I believe), who had an affiliation with Julius. Olive becomes the only survivor as it turned out that Twala reserved some money for her to maintain both her & the child & the movie ends. Olive then grabs her son & the cash & departs by a bus. Simply put, this is the worst movie I've seen in the drama/mystery/crime genre.The storyline is very cheesy with no complex issues that compel viewers to intruiguingly form their own perspectives (think of Ben Affleck's State Of Play), only to be surprised by mystery revelations in the end. Everything is laid bare from start to finish. Movies of this nature are often characterised by white actors in lead roles but surprisingly here, we got black actors in the lead. And how did Julius recognise Jack as one of the robbers? Could it be because they were wearing masks that didn't fully cover their identities with no device that criminals often utilise to disguise their voices? What stupid criminal would commit such a grave mistake? The end is too cliché, I've seen so many American movies end like that. It appears to have been adopted in one of those American movies. I guess they were endeavouring to incorporate the American mafia style into this movie as it is absolutely disloyal to South Africa's criminal style. This is also a cheap budget movie anyway, playing out like a TV crime drama. Enough said, my rating is 1/10 & it's lucky to even get that from me. Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa