screwtape83 I was very disappointed with this, considering that I love John Woo, but the story and dialogue are so full of holes, contradictory and hypocritical that I just turned it off...In every single other John Woo film I've seen, characters have been well fleshed out and reasonably likable (both bad and good characters too) and whilst I had no problem with most of the main cast (Sandrine Holt being particularly pleasing) the main character played by Ivan Sergei was so stupid and ridiculous that I found myself calling him "git-face" every time he was on screen. His motives, lines and general dialogue were so stupid, contradictory, lying, and self-serving it was unbelievable that a women such as Holt's character would ever find him attractive, and I'm afraid I just didn't like the actor on first view, like I just took and instant dislike to him, thats just the way it is sometimes but I expect John Woo to cast just the right people for his works.This feels like Woo was just going through the motions and that it might be just a contractual obligation of some kind...not even the action scenes are that good and also few and far between. It feels more like Woo was an 'executive producer' than at the helm on this one.

kale854 Yeah, it sucks, but it's one of those movies that gives you that warm and happy feeling, that you can only get when two supposedly heterosexual men are DEFINITELY into each other. Seriously, if you didn't see them, watch it again. The homo erotic undertones are there. Esp. with The Bite as my sister has taken to calling it. Of course Lee Ann had to be there to mess with everything.I realize very few people know anything about this movie, as it was pretty obscure, so I shall sum up. There are three 'siblings' named Mac, Lee Ann, and Micheal. Micheal is the biological son of a Chinese mob boss, and Lee Ann and Mac were adopted into 'The Family' Mac and Micheal are both in love with Lee Ann, but Micheal gets permission from his father to marry her. Micheal is a slimy little jerk, and honestly, the guy who plays him can't act... at all, I don't know his name, because all I really worry about are Mac and Vic (Ivan Sergei, and Nicholas Lea *heart*). So anyway, Mac and Lee Ann try to run away, Lee Ann escapes and Mac ends up in prison. That = exposition. I hope I've peeked your interest at least a little. Great movie. Rent it.

Frank Markland John Woo directs a TV drama about a couple of thieves (Ivan Sergei and Sandrine Holt) who escape to Canada after dishonoring their former boss in Hong Kong, however Sergei is caught by the cops and comes to Canada after his time only to find Holt and Lea in a relationship their soap opera antics must wait while assassin Michael Wong looks to do in our trio out of revenge for their disloyalty. Before Woo stunk up the multiplexes with Mission Impossible 2, Windtalkers and Paycheck. This and Blackjack were regarded as Woo's worst movies. Blackjack believe it or not has it's merits, it was plot heavy but it featured some good action and decent thesping in making for at least a tolerable movie. Once A Thief however is a sub-par take on Woo's own original and although I haven't seen it yet, one doubts it is as bad as this stinker. The main problem with this movie is just how much it feels like Melrose Place with two guns. It becomes so soap operish in it's moronic threads involving the three leads that I for one was hoping somebody would put a bullet in all three of them. Also it takes talent to be an action star, Chow Yun Fat, Jean-Claude Van Damme,John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Dolph Lundgren and even Christan Slater are far more credible than our teen leads which never convince us that they would do anything but crap their pants when the guns went off. Sergei in particular is a charisma-less lunkhead who seems to have wandered in from a stoner commercial. This is a very dull movie and the action sequences would be good had they not been botched beyond belief, Woo films no suspense and somehow the movie just keeps going for a ridiculous amount of time. This is for only die hard John Woo fans and only they will be disappointed by the awfulness here.* out of 4-(Bad)

store_house Big names like John Woo don't often work with small budget movies like these. However, despite the small budget and a relatively less talented cast - Woo comes up with a decent package of thrill/romance/action.Quite obviously, the screenplay is not as stylized as other Woo movies, but then again the comparison would be baseless given the size of this project. The script is quite typical to Woo's movies - not really believable but always good/entertaining material. People might complain that this is an unbelievable plot - but then that's John Woo. All his scripts hover above reality (Broken Arrow, Face/Off, MI2). Anyways, the script is closely linked to the original Once a Thief (starring Chow Yun Fat) which was definitely a popular movie of its time.In my opinion, the acting was definitely top-notch for a TV-movie. And the inherent charm in some shots/sequences is too cool as well - typical John Woo. Not to put in too much spoilers, but the one where all 3 guys place their weapons around the lady is quite tasteful.Perhaps today (10 years down), the visual appeal might not be so much since a lot of cinematic style has been infused in Hollywood in the past decade, but overall, this is an entertaining TV-movie.