Heist movies are fun. There are few things as satisfying in cinema as a well-executed plan coming to fruition, and the thieves that execute said plan making their getaway into the sunset.  It’s even better if they’re driving a cool car, and get to do a bunch of cool stunts.  Eenie Meanie, the directorial debut of Wayne creator Shawn Simmons, gets this.  

The story follows Edie (Samara Weaving), a young woman who formerly drove getaway cars during various heists for crime boss Nico (Andy Garcia), with her boyfriend and partner John (Karl Glausman).  She left that world (and John) to go straight, but on a day when everything has gone to shit, she goes to visit John and ends up embroiled in his hairbrained schemes, the result of which is that she has to choose between planning a big heist at a casino or letting John die by cruel and unusual means.  

At its core, there’s not a lot new in Eenie Meanie.  Edie assembles a crew and plans a heist that culminates in her driving a sports car through a casino floor and out onto the street to be pursued by the police.  There are obvious comparisons to and influences from Fast Five, Baby Driver, and the 2003 remake of The Italian Job.  It’s not the most original film you are going to see this year, but it executes this part of the film admirably, especially on a streaming budget.  

The film rests almost entirely on Samara Weaving. Edie is down on her luck, but fierce and incredibly skilled.  Weaving plays her with a great mix of confidence, anger, and vulnerability, and deploys each well when required.  Glausman is fun as John, this story’s fuckup character, whose heart is in the right place but can never seem to make the right choice.  

You have seen this before, though. While the story doesn’t bear much resemblance, the tone and style of the film very much resemble that of Simmons’ television show Wayne.  Edie and John bear some striking similarities to that shows lead duo, Del and Wayne, including Edie’s intelligence and John’s puppy dog loyalty and lack of impulse control.

There’s a stacked cast of supporting players, too, each of whom is doing what they need to.  Some show up for a few short scenes and make you laugh (like Randall Park, Marshawn Lynch, Mike O’Malley, Jermaine Fowler, Chris Bauer), and some show up for a few more and tug on your heartstrings (Steve Zahn, and especially Andy Garcia). 

The result is that Eenie Meanie is not a film that reinvents the wheel or the heist film.  It doesn’t transcend into something greater than the sum of its parts, but it doesn’t fail to live up to them either.  It’s what you might call a perfect work night movie. The kind of film that twenty years ago would have been a modest hit in cinemas and then developed a cult following by playing endlessly on television. The kind of film that, today, debuts on a streaming platform and you watch while you’re eating your dinner on a work night. It’s not amazing, but it’s a perfectly serviceable heist movie with a beautiful woman stealing money and driving fast cars, and it will keep you just interested enough until the movie is over.  

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