Term Life (2016)

Nick Barrow (Vince Vaughn) plans heists and then sells the plans, an occupation I didn't know existed. When the robbers get killed, Nick realizes he was set up and a number of people come looking for him. He becomes concerned about his estranged teen daughter Cate (Hailee Steinfeld). Yes he does take out a life insurance policy and then we never hear about it again until the very end. Nick goes on the run with his daughter, who develops a love-hate moody teen relationship with dad.Nick is no Liam Neeson, although he can get the upper hand by using his head. Cate quickly learns from dad as this becomes a heart warming crime drama with the promise of a better sequel, should they opt to go that way. Hailee Steinfeld did an excellent job. Soft 4 starsGuide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

"Term Life" fails to deliver on the promise of its premise. It has an interesting premise. A man facing imminent and unavoidable death takes out a life insurance police to provide for his estranged daughter and must contrive to survive extraordinary odds until the policy takes effect. Somehow, I equate the film to Jason Stratham's "Crank," but rather than having less than a day, Vaughn's character has three weeks, which lends a leisurely pace. Hailee Steinfeld was great in "True Grit," but isn't given much to work with here. At twenty, she looks possibly twenty-four and seems far too mature to play sixteen – and for what? Her character could just as easily be in her mid twenties. There is relatively little chemistry here. I felt more chemistry in "Safe," another Stratham film, between him and the Chinese kid. Steinfeld's character isn't particularly interesting or even three-dimensional. The plot seems familiar, with elements we've seen before. The characters are fairly two-dimensional. Cinematography is weak with a lot of jigglycam shots. I don't actually remember a single shot that looked as if a rigid camera mount was utilized. The action scenes are of the caliber of episodic television series. Some plot developments seem implausible. Several characters seem to know more than they could possibly know in real life. Overall, it's a watchable low-budget film that devotes too much attention to a relationship that isn't particularly interesting. At 93 minutes, it could probably be cut to 70 or less without losing much. Performances are generally competent, particularly with Vaughn, but hampered by an unimaginative script.

"Everything I've done has been for you. The running, the hiding, all of it has been for you." Nick Barrow (Vaughn) is a heist planner. After one goes bad Nick is trying to figure out why. The more he investigates the more he realizes his life is in danger. When his daughter Cate (Steinfeld) shows up Nick not only has to find a way to clear his name and save his own life, but Cate's as well. I am a big Vince Vaughn fan, I think he is hilarious and is always fun to watch…in comedies. This isn't a bad movie at all and is very much worth seeing but I think it could have been a little better. The biggest problem with this is that it was just a little predictable for the movie to have any real impact. That said though, again, I did like this and was entertained by it the entire time. Overall, if you are looking for the next Vince Vaughn classic this is not it, but this is still a decent movie to watch and isn't a waste of time at all. I give this a B-.

You really don't think Vince Vaughn when you think of action movies, even though he's a big solid guy. What makes it work is the fact that the movie is really about a dad trying to bond with his astray daughter Vaughn plays a crook who is framed by crooked cops for killing a real bad guy's son, and he has to protect his daughter from the really bad guy looking to do an eye for an eye type thing.Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld are a great pair on the screen as two strangers who are learning to become father and daughter. Lots of chucks of the movie deal with that and it was quite good.The movie is filled with lots of familiar faces in small roles, like Empire's, Terrance Howard and Taraji P. Henson, Bill Paxton and Mike Epps. Although it does not make the movie all that better.Overall, despite the action crime drama elements, and his bad hair cut, it's a Vince Vaughn movie. If you like Vince you'll like the movie despite the fact that he's trying something different with the role.