Stark Raving Mad

Scott is Ben McGewen, a small-time who's having to pay off his murdered brother's debt to gang boss Gregory (Lou Diamond Philips wearing a shockingly white wig). All he has to do is steal a rare Chinese sculpture for him. Unfortunately the sculpture is locked away in a high-security bank vault. Good thing that Ben has an elaborate plan which involves the putting on a club night in the warehouse next door and a crew of accomplices capable of pulling it off. So long as everything goes to plan of course. Unfortunately, everything that can go wrong does.
Seann William Scott (American Pie, Road Trip) plays Ben McGewen, a small time hustler who owe a huge sum of money to a mobster, Gregory (Lou Diamond Phillips.) Gregory will forgive the debt if Ben steals an ancient Chinese statue from a bank vault. If he fails, Gregory will kill him. As the movie begins, six months of planning are about to pay off. Ben rented a club that is next door to the bank, and is going to hold a rave. While the people are dancing the night away, he and his team are going to circumvent the security, blow a hole in the basement wall, sneak into the bank, and steal the statue. Unfortunately, everything that can go wrong does. I was expecting this to be a wacky comedy that was pinned onto a crime backdrop. I was wrong. This is first and foremost a drama, that just happens to be funny. Scott does a great job as Ben, much better than I imagined. He plays his character with the right amounts of confidence and worry. He doesn't overact, or play up the humor in the roll, which would have been easy to do.The movie itself is very entertaining. There is a lot of humor in this drama, but that doesn't distract from the seriousness of the situation. Its about equal parts of Fight Club and James Bond with a little bit of After Hours thrown in, for good measure. The movie has a fast pace and the plot travels forward at a good clip but not so fast that it becomes hectic.Lou Diamond Phillips was excellent as Gregory, the gangster boss. He plays the role of a powerful and sadistic crook very well. Gregory is calm and genteel at times, and psychotic at others. Phillips is able to fold both those traits into a single character and make it seem natural. Dave Foley, of Kids in the Hall fame, is good in his supporting role as an FBI agent also.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable film. It's not a great cinematic achievement by any means, but it is a really fun movie. The plot is strong enough to hold your interest, and the script manages to be funny without turning the whole production into camp. The ending worked perfectly too.