The “heist” film is a long-standing sub-genre that has generated both stand-alone masterpieces, such as The Sting (1973) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and box-office-smashing series like Ocean’s, Fast and Furious, and Now You See Me. That being said, a heist can easily fall into the trap of the cliché, and Netflix’s Lift, starring Kevin Hart, fails to deliver any form of originality or substance. To say the least, the film was rather disappointing. 

Like many heist-action-thrillers, the first act introduces the team (mid-mission, of course), the international agent tracking them, and, predictably, the damn-near impossible job they are forced into. Naturally, the team’s specialty is art theft, which is coincidentally very similar to Netflix’s Red Notice, released in 2021. Hart, cleverly named “The Boss,” leads a diverse team consisting of a pilot (Úrsula Coberó), a hacker (Yun Jee Kim), a safe cracker (Billy Magnussen), a master of disguise (Vincent D’Onofrio), and an engineer (Viveik Kalra). If you forget who they are, don’t worry; their entire personality is their area of expertise. 

After the first twenty or so minutes, unsurprisingly, we learn that the sexy female agent, Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and Hart’s character, Cyrus, have a history together. Like the Romeo and Juliet trope from the 2010 cinematic remake of The A-Team between Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper, Hart and Mbatha-Raw’s characters have what I’m sure was supposed to be steamy chemistry throughout the film. 

After being forced into a job by Interpol and Abby’s higher-up (Sam Worthington), the team is complete when Abby reluctantly joins the mission. After some time with the team, Abby begins to see the nobility, honor, and love among thieves. 

The entire second act, the build-up to the job, tried so hard to be a Fast and Furious film: a team of experts in their field, fugitives from the law, a family tied together by blood, sweat, tears, and the fact that they are all probably on someone’s most wanted list. But where the Fast and Furious films found charm in character chemistry, a car-themed twist, and the absurdity of more and more movies, Lift fell flat because we never spent time with the characters. The second act only laid out the plan. It never built relationships, expanded on backstories, or did anything to make us care if this plan worked or not. Any attempt at character development was wasted on Hart and Mbatha-Raw’s characters and their relationship, which was not only predictable but painfully forced.  

After the worst attempt at a heartwarming, inspirational moment between “The Boss” and his team, the end of the second act and the beginning of the third finally brought us to the mission. Based on the title and the regrettable number of times the word “lift” is used in the script, it is easy to infer that the heist takes place on an airplane. Some minimal stunts, bumps, and quips take place, and, of course, something goes south.

But never too south, of course, because in the end, The Boss gets the bad guy, the girl, and the money. Another successful day at work for the team. Truly, the best part of this film was its quick runtime of an hour and forty-five minutes. 

I think Hart has genuine comedic talent to bring to Hollywood, but where he excelled more in action-comedy films like Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle (2017), Next Level (2019), and Ride Along (2014), he fails to tap into his comedic edge with Lift. Even in his more dramatic films, such as Fatherhood (2021), he lacked any emotion or empathy for this project. The film wasn’t meant to be serious, but it wasn’t comedic either. Rather, it fell into a grey area of not knowing what to emphasize. We were left with an underwhelming performance from not just Hart but the entire cast. 

As I said before, we never spent time with characters, so any attempts at individual personalities — especially from Magnussen’s “Safe Cracker”— were reduced to cheap, awkward gags. Where the Ocean’s franchise succeeded with these interactions between the team, Lift has no such moments. And we didn’t spend enough time with the characters like we’ve done for the past twenty years in the Fast and Furious franchise to buy into the little gags we were given. 

Like the rest of the film, the score, cinematography, and editing were all underwhelming. The film mimicked many thrillers and heist films that have come before and most likely after Lift. It’s a shame that Netflix recruited so much talent only to deliver such a weak script and concept. 

Overall, this isn’t a strong start to the streaming service’s 2024 portfolio. While I think Hart has the potential to be a better leading man, the weakness of the script, lack of time with the supporting characters, and predictability of the plotline made Lift a forgettable, unfortunate attempt in an over-stuffed sub-genre. 

Review Courtesy of Sara Ciplickas

Feature Image Credit to Netflix via Deadline