Bus 657
starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Robert De Niro, Kate Bosewort, Gina Carano, D.B. Sweeney, Morris Chestnut and Dave Bautista
screenplay by Stephen Cyrus Sepher and Max Adams
directed by Scott Mann
Rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
Also called “Heist” and “Time to Run.” The plot of the film revolves around a casino heist by a sick daughter's father, who has to pay for her treatment. Robert De Niro is brutal casino operator Francis “The Pope” Silva who hunts down Luke Vaughn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who dared to steal from him. His daughter’s illness, treatment for which is cripplingly expensive, drives Luke to join with another casino employee, violent, unpredictable firebrand Jason Cox (Dave Bautista). During the escape from the casino things go awry. The thieves are detected by casino security and a running gun battle ensues in the city streets - reminiscent of the street gun battle scene in Heat (1995) between heavily-armed De Niro, Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore on the one hand, and city police led by Al Pacino on the other hand - Luke and his gang are forced to hijack a bus to escape. Now they have to negotiate with the police about their passengers/hostages in addition to worry about Silva’s persistent pursuit. Luke knows that Silva’s corrupt influence reaches deep into the police department making even sincere officers a terrible risk. In a clever twist at the end, however, we learn that the bus hijacking was not random, but part of Luke’s brilliant plan. Luke is a noble thief whose escape comes out of left field at a time and from a source you’re not expecting. You have to pay close attention to the story.