Set Up [DVD]

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A group of friends plan out a detailed heist that turns deadly when one betrays the other by taking off with the goods. Taking matters into his own hands, Sonny seeks out his revenge teaming up with the most dangerous mob boss in town to get back what is rightfully his. When he finally comes face to face with his longtime friend he will be forced to make a life changing choice. .com ---- Three lifelong buddies plan a heist, a slick little knock-over involving a courier carrying a briefcase full of gems. But folks, this is a Set Up: one of the robbers plans to take the goods for himself, a plot turn that leads to 85 minutes of reversals and revenge. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson lends his impassive style to the central role, with Ryan Phillippe as his site number and Bruce Willis as a Detroit mob boss who, as we learn in one of the film's infrequent attempts at "character," enjoys reading the sports section over breakfast in the morning. What possessed these actors to sign up for this collection of clichés and shootouts is difficult to hom; Set Up manages to be both unoriginal and incompetent on almost all counts. Any heist movie that can't even get the planning-the-job sequence down (here we just jump right into the action) clearly has no clue about setting up its story, and the plot holes abound from there. Only the twists that attend the arrival of Willis's muscle man (Randy Couture) provide a few moments of wackiness. Director and longtime stunt expert Mike ther (Beatdown) has the zoom lens set to "hyper," and he can't do anything about Curtis Jackson's inexpressive presence. But 50 Cent isn't the real problem here. Nobody could save this mess of a caper. --Robert Horton