‹ All movies
Den of Thieves poster

Den of Thieves

year 2018decade 10sdirector Christian Gudegastgenre Action crime
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Gerard Butler Nick O’Brien
Pablo Schreiber Ray Merrimen
O’Shea Jackson Jr. Donnie Wilson
50 Cent Enson Levoux
Maurice Compte Benny Borracho Magalon
Brian Van Holt Murph Connors
Evan Jones Bo Bosco Ostroman
Mo McRae Gus Henderson
Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau Tony Zapata
Dawn Olivieri Debbie O’Brien
Eric Braeden Ziggy Zerhusen
Lewis Tan Federal Reserve Police Lobby Guard #1
Jermaine Rivers Officer Jackson
Jay Dobyns Rolph Wolfgang
Alix Lapri Maloa
Nick Loeb Rudd

Den of Thieves | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathan format Live recordingformat Repeat visitformat Director in audience
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Recasting Couch

Ali Larter; young Nick prequel; keep existing cast

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:01Read transcript
  • Recasting: Ali Larter's Landman character as Big Nick's ex-wife, with a joke that she would respond less gracefully and might stab him.
  • A prequel about young Nick's football years and entry into Los Angeles policing is proposed after discussing Timothée Chalamet's next role.
  • An earlier proposal would give Butler a funny sidekick played by Dave Chappelle.
  • The Chappelle idea receives immediate objections; the proposer ultimately says he was wrong despite imagining gun training and jokes at Nick’s expense.
  • The existing cast is ultimately retained.
  • A funnier Bosco is proposed, with Flea invoked as a model for someone who could mock Nick.
  • Shane Gillis as Murph is offered as another example of a cop who could supply a few jokes about Nick.
  • Nicolas Cage would have suited Big Nick in the mid-to-late 2000s but has aged out of that version.
  • Pedro Pascal is a contemporary Big Nick possibility, with physical credibility and apparent behavioral authenticity important to the role.
  • An unspecified Wagner is another possibility; the transcript does not establish a surname.
  • Ben Affleck is proposed for a mid-to-late-2000s version.
  • Liev Schreiber as Big Nick would create a brother-against-brother pairing with Pablo; the audience groans at the idea.

Roger Ebert's review

Rating not yet verified
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:39Read transcript
  • There is no Roger Ebert review. A ChatGPT-generated hypothetical review guesses two and a half to three stars; this is not an actual Ebert rating.
  • A host guesses Ebert would have given three stars, praising the action, older cop-film sensibility, and willingness to take story risks.

Casting What-Ifs

None found

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:12Read transcript
  • No casting what-ifs were found. The hosts address the director in the audience and contrast the film's short history with decades of potentially unreliable casting lore.

What Would Tony Romo’s Director’s Commentary for This Movie Sound Like?

Doris Burke: prom; Tony Romo: bank cameras

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:00Read transcript
  • Director's commentary: Performs Doris Burke narrating the prom-date intimidation scene. — Chris Ryan
  • Tony Romo is proposed for Donnie's tense bank-room sequence when the cameras shut off.
  • A response notes that actual Doris Burke does not speak in monologues this long, joking about how the imitation has grown.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Fifteen-year development; locations; training; banknote credits

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:08Read transcript
  • The director reportedly began writing in 2003, making the project a fifteen-year journey.
  • Some countries released the film as Criminal Squad.
  • Ziggy's was filmed at Atlanta's Johnny's Hideaway, and the hosts discuss its connection to Sam's Hofbrau in Los Angeles.
  • A military consultant reportedly ran separate boot camps for the opposing teams.
  • The closing-credit hundred-dollar bill has a serial number referring to Den of Thieves and 2018.

Picking Nits

Traffic; bank access; money weight; old food; running; hypocrisy

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:05Read transcript
  • Nitpick: Scottish Gerard Butler as a South Torrance football star is questioned, though his accent concealment and Bill Romanowski-like presence are defended.
  • The fourteen-mile Hawthorne-to-Wilmington ride raises a Los Angeles traffic and distance objection.
  • Donnie's failure to request a lawyer after waking in the hotel is questioned; One participant compares real interrogation videos in which suspects similarly fail to ask for counsel.
  • Merrimen’s access to so much Federal Reserve information is questioned.
  • The Chinese-food courier’s freedom to enter the Fed and roam the cafeteria is questioned; a front-desk handoff would make more sense.
  • One participant objects to Donnie silently accepting Nick's insult about his penis size, proposing embarrassed or defensive replies rather than allowing the conversation to move on.
  • The hosts calculate the weight of thirty million dollars in hundred-dollar bills at roughly 661.5 pounds and question Donnie moving it so quickly in small bags; this is their cited internet calculation.
  • Donnie reconstructing ventilation plans from bar information requires accepting his exceptional intelligence.
  • A defense imagines far more accumulated conversations and incidental information over time than the brief scenes show; no duration in years is specified.
  • The Chinese food stored above the bathroom for days prompts questions about spoilage, temperature, smell, and what dishes the women could plausibly accept.
  • Merrimen's running looks too slow for his football reputation to one participant; others propose past injuries, military wounds, and heavy protective gear as possible explanations.
  • The long escape route and traffic are questioned; a closed lane is defended as quintessential Los Angeles, and the robbers expected to leave undetected.
  • Merrimen's objection to Nick's behavior is called hypocritical because he sends his girlfriend to sleep with Nick as a distraction.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Armored-car work; Merrimen namesake; misdirected text; barbecue house

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:14Read transcript
  • Sitting in the back of an armored truck is described as the worst assignment because of the danger.
  • The hosts ask what a moderately bad armored-truck shift would look like, between routine work and a disastrous robbery.
  • The hosts wonder why guards risk death protecting money instead of surrendering it.
  • The hosts ask whether Ray Merrimen's name honors football player Shawne Merriman.
  • Improvises an excuse for Nick’s misdirected text: Borracho borrowed the phone, followed by turning the accusation back on his wife. — Van Lathan
  • The outdoor barbecue setting resembles the Boogie Nights house, but the hosts say their location research places this film in Atlanta instead.