The Get Out, on DVD

Manco Kapak is the sort of character you might have seen on Miami Vice, except he lives in California. The Albanian immigrant initially managed a strip club, but he transformed his establishment into a high-end nightclub. Laundering money for a drug cartel certainly gave him the necessary resources. However, Kapak is keenly aware of he is getting too old for his business and everything that comes with it. Frankly, he would like to retire to a nice beach, but if he isn’t careful, he could be facing a more permanent retirement in Derrick Borte’s The Get Out, which releases Tuesday on DVD.

Every night, Kapak drops the cartel’s cash in the night deposit, until this fateful night. An incredibly awkward but desperate armed robber was waiting for him. Not being an idiot, Kapak covers the loss, but word still reaches the cartel. Det. Slosser isn’t very helpful either, probably because he was the brains behind the crime. He blackmailed Jeff, a sad sack academic into armed larceny, after the college admissions essays he wrote for Slosser’s son failed to produce the desired results.

Kapak’s younger girlfriend Sunny argues the hold-up is a sign Kapak should retire and he doesn’t necessarily disagree. He even has a potential buyer circling the club. That would be Joe Carver, whom Kapak assumes is a Jersey Wise Guy, but in reality, happens to be an undercover FBI agent, who wants to acquire the club to get the dirt on the Cartel. However, Kapak might not live long enough to sell when Slosser orders Jeff to hit him again.

Frankly, The Get Out is a far better gangster thriller than it has generally gotten credit for, thus far. Perhaps the initial poster art was too quirky looking. Regardless, it benefits tremendously from the charisma of its star, Russell Crowe, fully embracing the middle-aged Vegas jumpsuit stage of his career. He portrays Kapak with an easy-going charm and an underlying toughness, both of which make him a convincing survivor.

Although Sunny is an underwritten part, Teresa Palmer develops appealing chemistry with Crowe. Luke Evans is also enormously entertaining strutting through the film as Carver, who is clearly enjoying every second of his assignment. Josh McConville is aptly slimy as Slosser, but Aaron Paul and Nina Dobrev represent conspicuous weak links as Jeff and Carrie, the bank teller accomplice who forces her way into his heists.

While there are quite a few rough edges, Borte maintains a brisk tempo and buoyant tone, even when the events take a dark turn. Consequently, the film goes down quite smoothly. Recommended for fans of capery underworld thrillers, The Get Out releases Tuesday (8/25) on DVD (and it currently streams on American Airlines international flights).