Foolproof (film)

Last updated
Foolproof
Foolproof -- blu ray disc cover.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by William Phillips
Written by William Phillips
Produced by Colin Brunton
Bill House
Seaton McLean
Starring
CinematographyDerek Rogers
Edited by Susan Shipton
Music byJim McGrath
Distributed by Alliance Atlantis [1]
Release date
  • October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)
Running time
93 minutes
Country Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget CAD $7,800,000

Foolproof is a 2003 Canadian heist film directed by William Phillips and starring Ryan Reynolds, David Suchet, Kristin Booth, Joris Jarsky, and James Allodi.

Contents

Plot

Kevin, Sam, and Rob are playing a game, known as "Foolproof", in which they create working plans to infiltrate and burgle various targets. They do not actually execute these heists, preferring to simply simulate them using necessary technical and physical abilities to carry out the tasks required for the heist. They adhere to some rules, such as using identical equipment and infrastructure as the target and using no firearms of any kind.

All is fine until a famous criminal, Leo Gillette, breaks into Sam's apartment, steals the trio's plans for a jewelry warehouse heist, and accomplishes it. He then blackmails the group into designing and executing a plan to steal $20 million in bonds from a bank. Since he has evidence incriminating them in the plans, they accept.

Tension escalates within the group as Rob befriends Leo, while Kevin and Sam attempt to hinder his plans. They get the security codes to the safe and successfully switch the bonds. But the situation turns against them when Leo and Rob force Kevin into an elevator and crash it. When they go to retrieve the bonds, Sam shoots Rob, and then Leo shoots Sam. With the three friends dead, Leo leaves with the bonds.

It is later revealed that the friends had switched Leo's gun, giving him one loaded with blanks. Sam and Kevin get up and are greeted by Rob. When Leo gets back to his place, he sees a fire started by the gang to destroy evidence against them and planted evidence against Leo on the latest burglary. Leo is taken in custody by Detective Mason, while the friends drive away in their car.

Cast

Production

The film was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and produced by Alliance Atlantis Communications and Ego Film Arts and released theatrically on October 3, 2003, by Odeon Films in Canada and Momentum Pictures of the United Kingdom.

In Canada, it was released in 204 theatres, more than any other movie in the past. Under Telefilm Canada rules stating the film producers must have a good script and firm distribution deals to get a grant of more than C$1,000,000, Telefilm granted Foolproof C$3,400,000. The entire budget was C$7,800,000.

Reception

Chris Parry of eFilmCritic gave it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote: "The practice of Canadian companies and funding bodies unquestioningly funding any and all projects that Atom Egoyan signs his name to must end immediately. Not that this, his first foray into action thrillers, is necessarily the worst film of all time. In fact, it's actually quite enjoyable in parts. But the money blown on it could have funded eighteen smaller films that actually had a shot at the box office - or one close to this one, only which had the one secret ingredient needed to make a profit... an actual star." [2]

Home media

The film was released on DVD in March 2004, including behind-the-scenes and special effects features, the theatrical trailer and outtakes. The package also contained a CD of the soundtrack, with songs performed by The Crystal Method, The Dandy Warhols, Sam Roberts and Pilate. [3]

In 2020, mobile phone company Mint Mobile, in which Ryan Reynolds had an ownership stake, made the film available to view for free, through a print from the ad-supported streaming service FilmRise, on the website mintmobileplus.com, purported as being part of a new streaming service launched by the company (a joke on the various streaming services, such as Disney+, HBO Max, and Apple TV+, launching or increasing in popularity that year, even having a logo stylized after the first service); the joke was that the film was the only program on the "service", being shown with different thumbnails to make it appear as if it were different films. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Reynolds</span> Canadian and American actor and businessman (born 1976)

Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian and American actor, producer, and businessman. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen soap opera Hillside (1991–1993) and had minor roles before landing the lead role on the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl between 1998 and 2001. Reynolds then starred in a range of films, including the comedies National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002), Waiting... (2005), and The Proposal (2009), and the superhero films Blade: Trinity (2004), and Green Lantern (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristin Booth</span> Canadian actress (born 1974)

Kristin Booth is a Canadian actress.

<i>Fast Getaway</i> 1991 American film

Fast Getaway is a 1991 action comedy film, starring Corey Haim, Cynthia Rothrock and Leo Rossi. The film chronicles the adventures of a trio of non-violent bank robbers formed by a teenager (Haim), his immature father (Rossi) and the latter's feisty girlfriend (Rothrock). A sequel, simply titled Fast Getaway II, was released in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob McElhenney</span> American actor and screenwriter (born 1977)

Robert McElhenney III is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his role as Mac on the FX/FXX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present), a show he created and co-developed with Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton and on which he continues to serve as an executive producer and writer. He is also known for playing Ian Grimm on the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest (2020–present), which he co-created with Day and Megan Ganz as executive producers.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 20th Gemini Awards were held on November 19, 2005, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was co-hosted by several celebrities, took place at the John Bassett Theatre and was broadcast on Global.

Home Alone is a series of American Christmas family comedy films originally created by John Hughes. Chris Columbus directed Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Raja Gosnell directed Home Alone 3 (1997), Rod Daniel directed Home Alone 4 (2002), Peter Hewitt directed Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012) and Dan Mazer directed Home Sweet Home Alone (2021). The films revolve around the adventures of surrounding children who find themselves alone during the holiday season and faced with the challenge of defending their family's house or themselves from invading burglars and criminals.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 18th Gemini Awards were held on October 20, 2003, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Seán Cullen, took place at the John Bassett Theatre and was broadcast on CBC Television.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 15th Gemini Awards were held on October 30, 2000, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Steve Smith, took place at the John Bassett Theatre and was broadcast on CBC Television.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 14th Gemini Awards were held on November 7, 1999, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Rick Mercer, took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and was broadcast on CBC Television.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 5th Gemini Awards were held on December 4, 1990 to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and was broadcast on CBC Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joris Jarsky</span> Canadian actor

Joris Jarsky is a Canadian stage, film, and television actor who has received recognition for his versatility.

<i>Son of a Gun</i> (film) 2014 film by Julius Avery

Son of a Gun is a 2014 crime thriller film written and directed by Julius Avery. It stars Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander, and Jacek Koman.

<i>The Hurricane Heist</i> 2018 American film by Rob Cohen

The Hurricane Heist is a 2018 American disaster heist action film directed by Rob Cohen, written by Jeff Dixon and Scott Windhauser, and starring Toby Kebbell, Maggie Grace, Ryan Kwanten, Ralph Ineson, Melissa Bolona, James Cutler, and Ben Cross. It was released in the UK as a Sky Cinema Original Film. The film is about a maintenance worker, his meteorologist brother, and a treasury agent contending with a band of rogue treasury agents who plan to use a Category 5 hurricane to cover their tracks of a bank robbery. The film was released on March 9, 2018, it received negative reviews and was a box-office bomb, making $32 million against its estimated $35 million budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April Mullen</span> Canadian actress and filmmaker


April Mullen is a Canadian director, actress, and producer.

<i>Red Notice</i> (film) 2021 action comedy film by Rawson Marshall Thurber

Red Notice is a 2021 American action comedy film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber starring Dwayne Johnson alongside Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Ritu Arya. It marks the third collaboration between Thurber and Johnson, following Central Intelligence (2016) and Skyscraper (2018). In the film, an FBI agent reluctantly teams up with a renowned art thief in order to catch an even more notorious thief.

<i>Free Guy</i> 2021 film by Shawn Levy

Free Guy is a 2021 American contemporary fantasy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi. It tells the story of a bank teller who discovers that he is a non-player character in a massively multiplayer online game who then partners with a player to find evidence that a gaming company's CEO stole the source code of the player's game.

<i>The Adam Project</i> 2022 American film by Shawn Levy

The Adam Project is a 2022 American science-fiction action comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Jonathan Tropper, T. S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell in his film debut, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Catherine Keener and Zoe Saldaña. In the film, fighter pilot Adam Reed (Reynolds) crash lands in 2022 after getting injured while stealing a time jet, and meets his 12-year-old self (Scobell) in the process, who had been dealing with the loss of his father Louis (Ruffalo) the year before. All the while, Maya Sorian (Keener), leader of the dystopian world and head of her company Sorian, plans to monopolize time travel.

<i>Kaleidoscope</i> (American TV series) 2023 heist drama miniseries by Eric Garcia

Kaleidoscope is an American heist drama television anthology series created by Eric Garcia. The eight-part series, unique for its shuffled order, centers on master thief Leo Pap and his crew attempting an epic heist worth $7 billion, but betrayal, greed and other threats undermine their plans.

<i>A Small Fortune</i> 2021 Canadian film

A Small Fortune is a 2021 Canadian crime drama film, written and directed by Adam Perry. The film stars Stephen Oates as Kevin Doucette, a man living in a small village in Prince Edward Island who makes a subsistence living harvesting sea moss on the coast; resisting the urging of his wife Sam that he leave the province to look for more stable and well-paying work, one day he finds a large stash of money on the beach and hides it for himself, only to be drawn into danger when Troy arrives looking for it.

<i>Out Come the Wolves</i> 2024 Canadian film

Out Come the Wolves is a 2024 Canadian horror thriller film directed by Adam MacDonald and scripted by Enuka Okuma from a story by MacDonald, Okuma and Joris Jarsky. It stars Missy Peregrym, Jarsky, and Damon Runyan. The story follows a group of friends whose camping trip turns into a nightmare when they are stalked by a pack of wolves in a remote forest.

References

  1. ↑ Poirier, Agnes (22 May 2003). "Alliance Atlantis plans Foolproof Canadian release". Screen International . Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. ↑ Oz (November 8, 2004). "Movie Review - Foolproof". eFilmCritic.com.
  3. ↑ Anderson, Ashley (2004-03-01). "Foolproof: William Phillips". Exclaim! . Retrieved 2019-07-27.
  4. ↑ Ankers-Range, Adele (14 August 2020). "Ryan Reynolds Opens Streaming Service That Only Streams 2003's Foolproof". IGN. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.