The Code

I like a good caper movie every now and then. THE CODE features Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas as rival art thieves who get drawn into a scheme by a Russian mobster to steal a couple of Faberge eggs. The two of them are forced to work together to pull off the intricate heist, while being pursued by a dogged police detective (played by Robert Forster), who has been after Freeman’s character for years.

As is par for the course with movies like this, not everything is what it seems, but the participants all seem to be having fun and director Mimi Leder keeps things moving along at a reasonably fast pace. Even with the twists and turns, I thought there was a certain by-the-numbers quality about this movie, but it’s still entertaining and has some moments of sly humor about it, such as the exchange where Freeman and Banderas argue about whether a particular incident happened in TOPKAPI or RIFIFI. THE CODE isn’t on the same level as those films, but it’s worth watching.