The Out-Laws (Netflix, 2023)
Pierce Brosnan livens up an already lively comedy with an over the top performance in The Out-Laws.
It’s always fun to see a former Bond back in action, even if it is a supporting role in a movie as lightweight and inconsequential as this comedy, produced by Adam Sandler’s company Happy Madison and directed without a lot of style or grace by Sandlers nephew Tyler Spindel, from a by-the-numbers script by Evan Turner and Ben Zazove.
Brosnan plays Billy McDermott, who together with his wife Lilly (Ellen Barkin) makes up the Ghost Bandits, who are notorious for robbing banks.
They are in town to visit their daughter Parker (Nina Dobrev), who is about to get married to bank manager Owen (Adam Devine), the movie’s manically annoying leading man. So why not mix business with pleasure and rob Owens bank while they stay at his house?
It’s not a bad idea, and sort of harkens back to the days when old Hollywood stars like Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon made movies together. But The Out-Laws is made in a typical modern Hollywood way, quite loud, and with a barrage of jokes, some of which land while most fall flat on their face.
Brosnan, meanwhile, seems to enjoy the opportunity to let loose, and of course there is even a reference to his signature role as 007, as well as some car chases and shoot-outs.
If you like Sandleresque comedies, and I won’t hold it against you if you do, you will probably get your fill. If you don’t you might want to avoid this like the plague and watch something else instead.