New Delhi:

A choppy beginning that holds few promises, a meandering middle that leaves much of the initial potential under wraps, and an overly rushed climax make The Greedy People a mixed bag – an action comedy that despite all the searching will never top it. The gear does not come with a sweep spot.

The Greedy People, which premieres in India exclusively on Lionsgate Play and is available in English and Hindi, is often livened up with splashes of humor. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt lending immense charm and wit to his flamboyant cop and delivering quick punchlines between him and his partner in ‘crime’, the film has some bright moments.

But whatever the actors bring to the table – and they bring a fair amount – it’s not enough to add any real spark to the proceedings. Directed by Patsy Poncirolli from a screenplay by Nickel Vukadinovich The Greedy People never stop trying to get out of the swamp but failing.

Officer Terry Brogan (Gordon-Levitt) is not the one in control he wants us to believe he is. And his estranged partner, Will Shelley (Himesh Patel), a newcomer to the island town of Providence, is not as cool as he seems, or wants to be.

These two are as mismatched in style and substance as any pair of cops in a Hollywood movie. They become drawn into a rigidity of their own making. It quickly turns into a wild maelstrom that wreaks havoc in a city with a low crime rate.

Will’s first day on the job at Providence threatens to be his last. This leads to a series of misunderstandings, miscalculations, and cheap tricks, leading to a string of deaths starting with an accidental death, which Will mistakenly assumes is an attempted robbery.

Will’s pregnant wife Paige (Lily James) is busy setting up the house they have moved into, while he and Terry hatch a dangerous plan that leads to an unexpected murder, the accidental discovery of a million dollars, and a web of conspiracies that begins as a result. Originates from. To get the better of both, no matter how hard they try to direct the flow of events in their favor.

The film is let down a bit by the obvious lack of chemistry between the two male actors, but at times it feels like this lack is actually intentional. Terry and Will are very different in temperament. The first is cocksure. He is wholeheartedly into the game and, when not in police uniform, wears attractive floral shirts.

The latter feels his way. He is unconscious to the point of being stupid. Will is preparing for the arrival of his and Paige’s first child. The father-to-be wears pale stripes and does his job honestly. “You have to do this for your baby,” Terry tells her, then opportunity appears out of nowhere and knocks on their door.

But all his plans and schemes fail as bad choices are made not only while on duty but also at Will’s home and in the city. Both report to Captain Anne Murphy (Uzo Aduba), who probably knows that her two officers may not be very nice. But she gives them a longer rope until there is no rope left.

There’s a seafood merchant (Tim Blake Nelson) who has a nefarious plan to make his life interesting, a Colombian hitman (José María Yazpik) who masquerades as a masseur (and, surprisingly, also a car mechanic). Works, an assassin called The Irishman (Jim Gaffigan), “the last assistant you’ll ever need”, and a pet dog whom Page is very fond of.

Had his intentions been clearer and more believable, his actions and actions would have been extremely amusing. The film’s noirish approach has a dense and painstaking feel. Greedy people struggle to remove it without any success.

Terry and Will have backstories – these are dismissed as temporary hints – that explain why they are like this, but they appear as men in uniform and otherwise as they run from one mess to another. Everything they do is not always the truth.

The Columbian says that the most dangerous area in the house is not the kitchen (where a housewife turns up dead, covered in blood one morning) but the bathroom. But trouble arises in the kitchen itself.

Another housewife, a Chinese woman who was married to an ordinary middle-aged man, does not die, but one of the two policemen finds himself in big trouble because of his secret presence in her life.

While trying to get out of trouble and keep their lives in the bargain, Terry and Will get themselves into a tangle that not only proves difficult to untangle, but also makes the film too blurry to really be effective. .

The Greedy People is unlikely to ever compare favorably to other films of its kind. But it’s certainly not because of a willingness to try. This is not a typical buddy-buddy movie. Terry and Will never get along, which is why when push comes to shove they end up pulling in opposite directions. But does this add a glow of freshness to it? No.

Despite all the fuss (mostly verbal skirmishes and minor skirmishes), The Greedy People doesn’t produce a full-fledged action sequence until there’s less than half an hour to go. From there, it moves quickly from one thing to the next, never stopping to take a breath.

Terry is attacked by a masked man. He fights back. The position opens the sluice-gate. The gloves come off, the masks also come off. As it becomes clear that no one is who they seem, the violence unfolds so quickly that it comes and goes without generating any lasting adrenaline rush.

Actors work in their own delimited spaces with the ability to drive home the defining qualities of the characters they portray. British actor Himesh Patel gets top billing alongside Lily James, but The Greedy People primarily rides on Gordon-Levitt. He gives it his all. Sadly, this is not always enough.