by Ken San Nicolas

Director: John Luessenhop

Time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Genre: Action

Starring: Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Chris Brown

"Takers" is a heist movie with a notable cast and a grave plot. Unfortunately, the dialogue is elementary and the drama so cliche' that it is impossible to take this movie seriously.

Rapper T.I. plays Ghost, a burglar who has just been released from a 5 year prison sentence. He meets up with the members of his last heist (Paul Walker and company). They devise an intricate plan to rob an armored car but the kicker, it needs to be done in 5 days.

Hot in pursuit of the bandits are Jack (Matt Dillon) and Eddie (Jay Hernandez), two sharp cops with their own personal issues.

And this is where "Takers" begins to crumble. The acting is poor. Hayden Christenson, Paul Walker, Chris Brown -- let's say everyone except Jay Hernandez and Idris Elba, are horrible. Either that or this script is so ridiculously shallow that even the marquee list of actors can't save it.

Combine the poor acting with a screenplay that jumps from scene to scene with no logical transition or explanation, and you have one really irritating movie. I don't know if 107 minutes have felt any longer than the ones in "Takers".

At the end of the day, what "Takers" lacks is depth. There is no reason to feel anything for any of its characters as none of them seem integral to the story to begin with. Sure there are twists and turns but nothing new to the genre -- all of them things that have been done 15 years ago by other films and done better. Don't get caught red handed this weekend. Watch something else.

1 out of 5 stars.