REVIEW:
One fine Tuesday morning, the Vice President of a securities bank is visiting to make sure everything is running smoothly; after all, it is his fathers' business. His real intentions, though, are to steal the recently deposited $3 million from the safe in order to repay a debt to a local gangster.

At the same time, three bank robbers are digging a hole under the safe to get into the bank unnoticed. Unfortunately for them, the VP surprises one of them while trying to escape with the money. The VP beats the guy up and hauls him and the bag full of money out into the main lobby. The VP decides to take the suspect to the police station himself and announces this to all the employees. But no sooner does he say that the a pair of police officers show up and quickly take the VP and the suspect in custody, announcing that they will take both men to the police station for questioning.

Concerned is Miss Jo, who seems to be especially close to the Vice President. But there is more to Miss Jo than meets the eye, although we won't discover that until later. Meanwhile, the policemen, as it turns out, are also bank robbers who adjusted their original plan to fit the situation. They decide to keep the VP in a hideout, demanding a ransom from the father by making a video of themselves with black bars across their eyes in order to remain anonymous!

But this is just the beginning. Soon the story becomes a flashback experience that connects the dots and reveals a wealth of missing data, then catches up to and briefly replays the heist from a different perspective before moving further into the story. All the way the characters and story take many twists and turns as we are lead further and deeper into even more surprises and revelations - which is precisely what a good heist film should do. Like Heist, Thief, the original The Italian Job, and Rififi, Jakarta is full of surprises and intrigue that will hold your attention until the very last surprising frame. Tongue firmly planted in cheek, this is one heist caper comedy you won't want to miss.

Directed by Jeong Cho-Shin, Jakarta stars Kim Sang-joong, Lim Chang-Jeong, Yoon Da-hoon, Jin Hee-kyung, Lee Jae-eun.

What we can say, however, is that we absolutely loved this film, and are trying to spread the word to everyone that it is absolutely not to be missed. Whether you're a fan of David Mamet's films, with their intriguing origami-like plots; or you're drawn to Andrew Lau's films, with all the style and hip characters currently allowed by law; or you're a big Tarantino film fan, who loves a great story told in a fun, non-linear way; this is for you.

Just sit back with a big bowl of popcorn and a good friend and check this one out--allow your brain to be twisted into a pretzel, and your eyes and ears to be treated to a devilishly stylish little bit of magic.

Then when the film's over, just stay in your seat and watch it again to figure out exactly how the magic trick was performed, to see exactly how the wool was pulled over your eyes, and to revel in the beauty of this witty contemporary masterpiece.