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Armored is a 2009 American crime thriller film directed by Nimród Antal, written by first-time screenwriter James V. Simpson, and starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno and Laurence Fishburne. It was released on December 4, 2009.[1]
Ty Hackett (Columbus Short), an armed service veteran, is now an employee of Eagle Shield security as a member of one of their many armored car transport team. Now the legal guardian of younger brother Jimmy (Andre Kinney), the Silver Star recipient now struggles to make ends meet. In a bar after an armored car prank heist played on Hackett, his co-workers recount several historical attacks on armored cars. It is explained that Ashcroft (Fred Ward), their immediate supervisor, was once involved in an ambush, becoming the only survivor as he single-handedly killed 5 assailants. This story was topped by "a better" one of an armored car jacking in '88 where the guards surrendered the funds they were escorting in order to avoid the killing of a fellow guard concluding in the safety of all members and escape of the hijackers. The thieves were never caught and the crew speculates that the escort team staged the attack. After constant letters to foreclose on his home, Hackett finds himself in need of additional money to help make ends meet. While contemplating this, Hackett is approached by Mike Cochrane (Matt Dillon), his god father and co-worker, who has devised a plan to steal money being transferred from the Federal Reserve to the local banks. Hackett turns down the offer. Upon arriving home that evening, he finds a social worker who explains that Hackett's brother has missed most of the school year, and that the lack of proper care has forced the state to consider placing Jimmy in a foster home.
The following morning, after receiving assurances from Cochrane that no one will be hurt, Hackett reluctantly agrees to participate in the heist. The crew are dispatched as normal in two trucks to collect $42 million from the Federal Reserve, and after a radio check-in with their superiors the plan is set into motion by driving to an abandoned steel mill located in a radio dead-zone after pick up. Here the team begins to unload the money for storage, intending to collect the cash after the heat from the heist dies down. The group offloads the first truck, but their plan is compromised when a homeless man living in the mill is spotted observing them. After a chase ensues as the man has seen too much an armed guard shoots him. Hackett tries to take the injured man to the unloaded truck, but as he attempts to do so, Cochrane kills the man, stating that he had no choice. Upset over this, Hackett barricades himself inside the truck with the remaining $21 million inside. After an attempt to flee in the truck fails, Hackett sets off the truck's alarm, which catches the attention of a local sheriff's deputy, Jake Eckehart (Milo Ventimiglia).
Another one of the guards, Baines (Laurence Fishburne), pulls out the fuse to the engine, disabling the vehicle, but not before Eckehart draws closer due to the noise of the siren. Cochrane stops Eckehart before he enters the mill, claiming to be a security guard. Just as Cochrane convinces Eckehart to leave, Hackett successfully restores power to the truck's alarm which blares immediately. In reaction to the plan being compromised, Baines shoots the deputy, incapacitating the officer. While the thieves are distracted, arguing over what to do, Hackett secures the deputy in the truck he occupied previously. Hackett reassures the officer, calms him and applies first aid. The remaining thieves devise a plan to break into the truck by knocking off the hinges, which will allow them to remove the doors. Dobbs (Skeet Ulrich), begins to have second thoughts about the operation and agrees with Hackett to make an attempt to get the fuse removed by Cochrane from the engine. He retrieves the fuse, but is caught trying to put it back in to the engine. As Dobbs begs for forgiveness on not being able to continue with the plan, he asks Palmer (Amaury Nolasco), to reassure him that the other men would not harm him. Palmer keeps his promise and stabs Dobbs to death.
As the thieves continue their attempts to remove the hinges from the door, Hackett discovers that the floor of the truck has a removable panel. Covering the windows inside with stolen money, Hackett removes the panel, and takes Eckehart's radio to the roof to see if he can get reception. Hackett makes contacts with authorities, but Palmer catches him before he can return to the vehicle. They exchange words as Hackett attempts to convince Palmer of what they are doing not being right. Palmer finally asks Hackett if he thinks God will forgive him, and jumps off the building, killing himself. Before deputies arrive, the remaining thieves reveal a kidnapped Jimmy and demand that Ty open the truck. Hackett complies, and Quinn (Jean Reno) and Baines head for the money; however Hackett has rigged the money case with a booby trap, which detonates upon opening. The explosion destroys the money and kills both Quinn and Baines.
Cochrane chases after Hackett, who tries to help direct authorities to the scene in the deputy's car. After the car becomes disabled, Hackett flees on foot with the surviving truck in pursuit. The truck crashes into a pit in the plant, which results in Cochrane's death. Later, Hackett is seen in the hospital waiting room while a recovering Eckehart is debriefed by authorities and Ashcroft. Ashcroft approaches Hackett stating that there's talk of a reward implying that Eckehart spoke about his efforts in the foiling of the thieves. With Jimmy also being released from the hospital, Ty and Jimmy now go home.
- Columbus Short as Tyler "Ty" Hackett[2]
- Matt Dillon as Mike Cochrane[2]
- Jean Reno as Quinn[2]
- Laurence Fishburne as Baines[2]
- Amaury Nolasco as Palmer[2]
- Milo Ventimiglia as Off. Jake Eckehart[2]
- Fred Ward as Duncan Ashcroft[2]
- Skeet Ulrich as Dobbs[2]
- Andre Kinney as Jimmy Hackett[2]
The film was not screened in advance to critics.[3] The film received mixed reviews, getting a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
A.O. Scott, in a The New York Times review, wrote that the Hungarian director, Nimród Antal, "has an old-fashioned, functional style. [...] He has made an unabashed B movie: basic, brutal and sometimes clumsy, but far from dumb, and not bad at all."[3] The film doesn't minimize the seriousness of killing and conveys a bleak outlook on economic blight "with quiet passion and conviction", Scott wrote. The cinematography of Andrzej Sekuła (whose work also appears in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction) helps capture that mood, according to Scott.[3]
The film was accidentally released by Sony on PlayStation Network for free, though was pulled after an unspecified amount of time. The movie was issued while it was still showing in theaters, and although the mistake was eventually spotted, it is thought to have been downloaded thousands of times before the error was fixed.[4]
This movie was released as Armored on DVD Region 1 Anamorphic widescreen and Blu-ray disc Region A formats on March 16th of 2010.
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