THE TRUST

Nicholas Cage                  Elijah Wood

     The Trust attempts to combine comedy and thrills, and partly succeeds with both.  The script by Benjamin Brewer, co-director with his brother Alex, falls a bit short in terms of flow, surprise, and suspense.  The bumbling by the two policemen involved in accessing a cache of valuable goods in Las Vegas is funny at times, but other times falls flat.  The two experienced actors, Nicholas Cage and Elijah Wood, are up to their usual level of skill, but some things written for them to do or say are just not funny. 

     Jim (Cage) is David’s (Wood) supervisor, and clumsily tries to teach the younger man a bit of police investigative instinct; but it seems he always has to give him the answer to his leading questions because David is usually at a loss.  This is a part of the script that is puzzling; when they do a “job” it’s clear that David is the one who is better at planning, although Jim does have practical sense. But there is a contradiction in David’s being characterized as slow in some places and quick-witted in others—unless the writer is trying to show that Jim’s “caginess” is actually not so smart after all, and it just takes David a while to catch on.

     Jim is the one who questions the story behind someone coming up with $200,000 cash for an accused felon’s bail.  He decides to investigate who the donor is, how he makes his living, and why he would rescue the felon.  In this, he needs David’s investigative smarts; Dave is reluctant from the get-go, but when his boss puts pressure on him, he tends to cave.  Needless to say, the pair do not intend to turn the evidence in to their department.

     The rest of the story is about what happens when they find the cache and the significant snags they encounter along the way, including having two people unexpectedly on their hands whom they have to deal with.  Although the ending is likely to be suspected by many, it does have some twists along the way that are entertaining and close to clever.

     Music by Reza Safinia is rather trite, but cinematography by Sean Porter is subtle and noteworthy in transitions and camera movement.

Trust is hard to come by in some cases.

Grade:  D+                     By Donna R. Copeland