The Hurricane Heist

The Hurricane Heist is a 2018 American disaster heist action film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Jeff Dixon and Scott Windhauser. It was released in the UK as a Sky Cinema Original Film. The film stars Toby Kebbell, Maggie Grace, Ryan Kwanten, Melissa Bolona, and Ralph Ineson, and is about a band of thieves who plan to use a Category 5 hurricane to cover their tracks of a bank robbery. The film was released on March 9, 2018, received negative reviews and was a box-office bomb, making just $32 million against its estimated $35 million budget.

The Hurricane Heist
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRob Cohen
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Jeff Dixon
  • Scott Windhauser
Story by
Starring
Music byLorne Balfe
CinematographyShelly Johnson
Edited byNiven Howie
Production
company
  • Foresight Unlimited
  • Parkside Pictures
  • Windfall Productions
  • Tadross Media Group
Distributed byEntertainment Studios Motion Pictures
Release date
  • March 9, 2018 (2018-03-09)
Running time
103 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35–40 million[1][2]
Box office$32.5 million[1][2]

Plot

In 1992, a category 5 hurricane named "Andrew" hits the town of Gulfport, Mississippi. Will and Breeze Rutledge are evacuating from the destructive hurricane with their dad. However, their truck gets stuck after avoiding the toppling tree in front of them, and they are forced to take refuge in a nearby house. While trying to save the truck from blowing away, strong winds blow a water tank and it crushes their dad, killing him.

In 2018, another destructive category 5 hurricane named "Tammy" approaches the town of Gulfport, Mississippi. Federal Reserve Treasury agent Casey Corbyn (Maggie Grace) is ordered by fellow employee Randy Moreno (Christian Contreras) to summon Breeze (Ryan Kwanten), who now works in maintenance and whose brother Will (Toby Kebbell) is a National Weather Service meteorologist, to fix the generator at a cash storage facility.

While she is out of the facility, rogue Treasury agents, led by Connor Perkins (Ralph Ineson), infiltrate the facility and hold Moreno hostage. Their plan is to steal $600 million, and Perkins enlists computer hackers, Sasha (Melissa Bolona) and Frears (Ed Birch), to crack the code of the vault. Failing to decrypt it, Perkins realizes that Corbyn may have changed it, so he has his men find her. Sasha and Frears have to use a brute-force attack using the town's transmission tower.

As Corbyn and Breeze drive back to the facility, they encounter the mercenaries, and Corbyn engages in a shootout with them. Will helps her escape with his Storm Research Vehicle (SRV) called the Dominator, but Breeze is left behind and is captured and taken hostage, forced to repair the generator.

Will is upset when he learns that his brother is in danger. Determined to save him, he and Corbyn meet Sheriff Jimmy Dixon (Ben Cross) at his station, but Sheriff Dixon reveals himself to be one of Perkins' cohorts and tries to take Will and Corbyn hostage. Corbyn shoots the sheriff, and they escape. When Dixon and one of his deputies chase them, Will manages to knock their car with his Dominator. Realizing that the tower is being used to crack the vault's code, Will and Corbyn manage to topple it moments before the decryption is completed. Perkins' men spot them and engage in a gunfight with them, but they escape. Dixon turns Perkins down, confronting him over a botched heist in the previous hurricane. When Dixon wants to claim all the money, Perkins shoots him dead and persuades Dixon's men to find Corbyn.

While looting a mall, Corbyn calls Perkins and makes a deal for the release of Moreno and Breeze as long as she opens the vault and gets the money. When Perkins asks where the trade will be conducted, Corbyn tells him at the mall. When Perkins asks ".....which mall?" Corbyn says "The only mall in Gulfport." The mercenaries arrive at the mall with Breeze to do the trade. Will and Corbyn make a plan to shoot the roof glass causing the mercenaries to be sucked out through the roof. After Will talks to Breeze, Corbyn shoots the glass roof, sucking the mercenaries out into the storm as planned. Corbyn, Will, and Breeze manage to hold on. After the storm surge, Corbyn gives herself up while Breeze rescues the stranded Will. Back at the Treasury facility, as Corbyn and the remaining mercenaries arrive, Perkins breaks his deal to release Moreno and shoots him avenging the deaths of his men, Jaqi and Xander.

As the eye of the storm passes, Perkins and his men take the money, using three of the facility's truck trailers, along with Corbyn. Will and Breeze follow them. With the eye-wall approaching on their tail, Will and Breeze take over a truck, and Frears and Perkins are injured in the process. After the struggle with Perkins, the eye-wall sucks the money out of one of the trucks and then the truck itself. Cursing the storm, Perkins is then killed after his own detached trailer crushes him. When Breeze's truck engine backfires and burns, Will and Corbyn transfer him to their truck. However, when they attempt to rescue Sasha and Frears, they are sucked into the storm. Corbyn and the brothers manage to outrun the storm safely, and drive away into the sunshine.

Cast
  • Toby Kebbell as William "Will" Rutledge, the meteorologist
    • Leonardo Dickens and Luke Judy as Young Will Rutledge
  • Maggie Grace as Casey Corbyn, the Treasury agent
  • Ryan Kwanten as Breeze Rutledge, Will's older, ex-Marine brother
    • Patrick McAuley and Andre Robinson as Young Breeze Rutledge
  • Ralph Ineson as Connor Perkins, a corrupt Treasury employee
  • Melissa Bolona as Sasha Van Dietrich, a computer hacker and Frears' girlfriend
  • Ben Cross as Sheriff Jimmy Dixon, a corrupt lawman
  • Jamie Andrew Cutler as Clement Rice, Xander's brother
  • Christian Contreras as Agent Randy Moreno, an employee of the Treasury
  • Jimmy Walker as Xander Rice, Clement's brother
  • Ed Birch as Frears, another computer hacker and Sasha's boyfriend
  • Moyo Akande as Jaqi, Perkins' lover
  • James Barriscale as Deputy Michaels
  • Mark Basnight as Deputy Gabrielle
  • Keith D. Evans as Deputy Rothilsberg
  • Mark Rhino Smith as Deputy Baldwin
  • Brooke Johnston as Deputy Diamond
  • Natacha Karam as Laurie

Production

In January 2016, it was announced that Rob Cohen had signed on to write and direct the film, then titled Category 5, with casting underway and a Summer 2016 principal production start set.[3] In February 2016, it was announced that the film had been acquired for distribution in a large number of international locations via the European Film Market.[4] In May 2016, it was revealed that Toby Kebbell had been set to star in the film.[5] In June 2016, the rest of the cast was announced.[6]

Principal photography on the film began in Bulgaria on August 29, 2016.[7] In July 2017, the completed film, now titled The Hurricane Heist, was acquired for domestic distribution by Entertainment Studios with an early 2018 release date slated.[8]

In the UK, the film will be released by Altitude Film Distribution and will be the second Sky Cinema Original Film.

Reception

Box office

The Hurricane Heist grossed $6.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $26.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total $32.5 million against a production budget of $35 million.[1]

In the United States and Canada, The Hurricane Heist was released on March 9, 2018 alongside The Strangers: Prey at Night, Gringo, and A Wrinkle in Time, and was initially projected to gross around $7 million from 2,402 theaters in its opening weekend.[9] However, after making just $950,000 on its first day, weekend estimates were lowered to $3 million. It ended up grossing $3 million, finishing ninth.[10]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45% based on 55 reviews, and an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Hurricane Heist is a throwback to the overblown action thrillers of yesteryear—and a thoroughly middling example of why they don't make 'em like this anymore."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[10]

Alonso Duralde of TheWrap criticized the film's direction, acting and overbearing musical score, saying, "Critics often lament that worthy films released early in the year are too often forgotten during awards season, so let's be very clear up front: For your Best of the Worst of 2018 consideration, in all categories, The Hurricane Heist."[13] Andrew Barker, writing for Variety, gave the film an ironic recommendation, calling it the best worst movie of 2018 and saying: "All three of our heroes take time out in the middle of survival situations to discuss their undying love of football and the Second Amendment, but they also believe in climate change. If our divided country can't come together over a movie this wonderfully terrible, what hope do we really have?"[14]

There are some factual inconsistencies relating to the alleged location of the events in the film. Several scenes show mountains in the distance, but the entire Gulf Coast is completely flat. Also, the film claims to be in Gulfport, which exists in Mississippi, not Alabama.

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gollark: I think I could do a better job. I at least know how to parse things, and how stacks work.

References
  1. "The Hurricane Heist (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  2. "The Hurricane Heist (2018)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  3. Jaafar, Ali (January 20, 2016). "Rob Cohen To Direct 'Category 5' For Mark Damon's Foresight Unlimited". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  4. Tartaglione, Nancy (February 13, 2016). "Rob Cohen's 'Category 5' Sees Storm Of Sales Action For Foresight – Berlin". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  5. Evry, Max (May 13, 2016). "Toby Kebbell Joins Rob Cohen's Heist Movie Category 5". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  6. Busch, Anita (June 22, 2016). "Rob Cohen's 'Category 5' Adds Maggie Grace, Others To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  7. "PRODUCTION: American Action/Adventure Category 5 Starts Shooting in Bulgaria". Film New Europe. Film New Europe Association. September 5, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  8. Ramos, Dino-Ray (July 17, 2017). "Rob Cohen Action-Thriller 'The Hurricane Heist' Acquired By Entertainment Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  9. Rubin, Rebecca; McNary, Dave (March 6, 2018). "Box Office Preview: 'A Wrinkle in Time' Looks to Lure Kids as 'Black Panther' Stays Muscular". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  10. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 10, 2018). "'Black Panther' Steps Ahead Of 'A Wrinkle In Time' As Diversity Dominates Weekend Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  11. "The Hurricane Heist (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  12. "The Hurricane Heist Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  13. Durande, Alonso (March 9, 2018). "'The Hurricane Heist' Film Review: Caper Forecast Is Stupid With a Chance of Bonkers". TheWrap. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  14. Barker, Andrew (March 9, 2018). "Film Review: 'The Hurricane Heist'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
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