(Photo: Courtesy of MGM)

“The world’s greatest jewel thief has finally decided to retire in paradise,” booms the trailer for Brett Ratner’s slick After the Sunset. The Rush Hour director’s Bahamian caper is yet another One Last Score flick, a genre that dovetails nicely with an aging leading man’s One More Gig strategy. Fair enough when you can’t wait to see an iconic actor get dirty again (Gene Hackman in Heist, Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast)—but when it’s Pierce Brosnan, the onetime Remington Steele, I’m less inclined. Watching Brosnan grope a bikinied Salma Hayek, I couldn’t help but flash back to the actor’s previous scores, from The Thomas Crown Affair to the last Bond. And like the moll who begs her guy to stay, I’d like to implore grizzled actors: Sweetheart, you have enough money. When will it end? What more do you need?

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• Archive: “Movie Features”
• Articles by Logan Hill
• Table of Contents: Nov 22, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!