Kevin Caffery (Martin Lawrence) is a slick-talking art expert ... and a thief. He falls for Amber Belhaven and steals a picture with personal value for her. She gives him her father's ring. Kevin and Berger (John Leguizamo) go to rob sleazy media magnet Max Fairbanks (Danny DeVito). Kevin gets caught and Max steals the ring claiming Kevin stole it from him. Max considers the ring, with the same symbol as his company, an important sign. Max is going through bankruptcy ignoring the rules. Kevin is focused on getting back the ring and revenge.
This would be a lot simpler without the bankruptcy. This could have been a fun bad guy vs bad guy steal-a-thon. Pitting Lawrence and DeVito against each other is potentially hilarious. Instead, it's unnecessarily complicated. It keeps adding strange characters. There are no compelling stakes. The ring is an interesting idea. I don't care about the bankruptcy. I don't care about these characters and that's why it's not funny. It could be funnier if Max can steal more stuff from Kevin like the way he stole the ring. It would allow for more of a back and forth exchange.
This would be a lot simpler without the bankruptcy. This could have been a fun bad guy vs bad guy steal-a-thon. Pitting Lawrence and DeVito against each other is potentially hilarious. Instead, it's unnecessarily complicated. It keeps adding strange characters. There are no compelling stakes. The ring is an interesting idea. I don't care about the bankruptcy. I don't care about these characters and that's why it's not funny. It could be funnier if Max can steal more stuff from Kevin like the way he stole the ring. It would allow for more of a back and forth exchange.