The storyline revolves around the plot to steal a mysterious briefcase by a bunch of misfit ex-security service mercenaries. De Niro plays the lead as he and his comrades speed around the French countryside moving from one doublecross to the next. The car chases are excellent but the overall flow of the movie is clumsy and dated. There are too many cliched moments involving French cafes, ex-Russian spies and Irish terrorists. Multiple attempts at sophistication and intrigue fall flat as an accomplished cast try to sustain the suspense. A glaring example is the extreme waste of Sean Bean as a twitchy ex-SAS imposter whose role serves no purpose but to introduce a few overly clever references to the English town of Hereford. (The connection between the town and the SAS is probably lost on much of the audience and no explanation is given). This movie tries to bridge the gap between an intelligent dialogue-driven thriller and a gratuitous all-action movie. Sadly, it falls very flat somewhere in between.
