He’s an actor with a particular set of skills: making highly generic yet entertaining action movies and thrillers. That “he” is Liam Neeson, and I’m talking about his 2020 heist flick “Honest Thief.” On release, it made $32.6 million globally versus a $30 million production cost (via The Numbers). It was not received well by critics at all and scored a mere 41% positive rating (via Rotten Tomatoes). While the movie was widely panned by many professional reviewers, it is currently shooting up the streaming ranks, landing at number 10 on Netflix in the United States as of December 10 (via FlixPatrol), and it’s likely to go even higher. Also somewhat surprisingly, it has an 87% user rating on Rotten Tomatoes, showing there’s a disconnect between critics and the average movie-lover.
What are people saying? On Rotten Tomatoes, user reviews say “Anything Liam is in rocks,” and that this film in particular is “very suspenseful, riveting.” I’m not entirely sure that’s how I would describe it, but it is an entertaining flick nonetheless. It also has a 6 out of 10 IMDB rating, which puts it at about average — not amazing, but not terrible either.
As for the story, “Honest Thief” follows a bank robber who is well-known for his crimes and wants to turn himself in to better his life, but is double-crossed by corrupt FBI agents. It stars some pretty big names besides Neeson, such as Robert Patrick, Anthony Ramos, Jeffrey Donovan, Kate Walsh, and Jai Courtney.
Why is Honest Thief so popular with the audience?
There’s probably no single reason why “Honest Thief” is rising through the streaming ranks. It could be the underlying romance tale at the center of the movie, it could be all the high-octane action between cops and robbers, or it could just be that your average Liam Neeson thriller makes for some excellent popcorn time — like the movie “The Naked Gun,” which had an ad featuring Neeson with eight fingers to roast AI. Netflix’s recommendation algorithm might even be making it more visible to users for other reasons.
But it’s also not out of the ordinary to see an older movie, sometimes even one that bombed at the box office, getting a new lease thanks to streaming platforms. From a 2022 crime thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal to an underrated sci-fi horror movie in space, in-home streaming is bringing a lot of attention to movies like “Honest Thief” and its ilk. It could simply be because it’s available to stream and there’s not much new to watch, but if we go by user reviews, it may also be because people just enjoy watching Liam Neeson beat up some bad guys with his stoic, mysterious, and lethal demeanor. “Agent Nivens, I’m coming for you.”
