Benjamin Lee 

Misconduct review – Al Pacino stars in lazy patchwork thriller

Thanks to a well-stocked cast and slick direction, this crime drama survives its shameless cribbing from other films
  
  

Hammier than a hog roast … Josh Duhamel and Al Pacino in Misconduct.
Hammier than a hog roast … Josh Duhamel and Al Pacino in Misconduct. Photograph: Everett/Rex Shutterstock

This lazy patchwork quilt of a thriller assembles a plot by carelessly stitching together twists from superior movies, but remains mildly diverting thanks to a curiously starry cast, slick direction and a general silliness right through to the end. But it’s late-night TV trash all the way, with a charisma-free Josh Duhamel starring as a lawyer who gets involved in a “web of deceit” involving a corrupt CEO (Anthony Hopkins), a psycho ex (Malin Åkerman), his earnest wife (Alice Eve), a hostage negotiation expert (Julia Stiles) and the head of his firm (Al Pacino). It shamelessly cribs from 90s potboilers (a last-minute twist is stolen from a notable film of the decade) and Pacino is hammier than a hog roast, but it’s too lurid to be dull.

 

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