The quality of American action thrillers is degrading with each passing day, and Ives’ “Cash Out” is a prime example of this. Starring John Travolta, Lukas Haas, and Kristin Davis, the film tries to emulate the essence of Netflix’s “Money Heist” but fails drastically in its approach. For the 90 long minutes, the thriller follows an aimless direction, leaving the audience uncertain where the film is heading when the climax arrives. Ives tries to craft a thriller with a scintillating plot twist, but sadly, all he can manage is to create a below-average heist film that leaves basically zero impact on the audience. The only thing that might interest you in watching the film is John Travolta himself.
Spoilers Ahead
Cash Out (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film starts with Mason and Amelia having arrived at this huge auction where very costly private planes are being auctioned. They have traveled a long way so the organizer of the event himself welcomes them and asks the reason why they are not looking at the planes. Mason tells him that he has come to see the private collection of rare cars that the organizer has. When he finally introduces his secret hideout filled with million-dollar cars, Mason and Amelia are very satisfied.
However, later, Mason asks the organizer about his most precious car, and when he shows it to them, Mason and Amelia enter the car just to get the feeling of it. In the meantime, we see Amelia is in contact with Link, a very capable woman who knows everything about hacking a security system. Link disengages the security system remotely while Anton, Hector, and Shawn enter into the room to dismantle the guards. Mason and Amelia leave the place, driving the car while Anton, Hector, and Shawn take three different cars.
What does Mason Learn about Amelia?
On their way back, Link discovers that an unregistered helicopter is following them. While Amelia tries to tell something to Mason, he is lost in his thoughts of how to get away from the situation. He knows that Anton can take care of it. But with multiple police vehicles following them, it is going to be a very hard escape. Link asks Mason whether they should proceed with plan B. Before Mason can answer that, he sees Amelia holding a gun at him. Mason learns that Amelia is working as a secret agent for the FBI, and he is being lied to the whole time.
Mason is deeply in love with Amelia as they have even planned this heist as a retirement. Later, they will live on a certain island without worrying about anything. But, as the truth unfolds, Mason decides to ignore Amelia’s intentions and backs his team going with plan B. Anton then dives into the river along with the truck. Amelia then goes back to the FBI while the rest of the crew swims across the river and successfully escapes from being caught. No one in the crew can believe that Amelia is working for the FBI all along.
Why does Mason Join the Heist Again?
Mason has left the heist job and now he is enjoying his single life amidst fishing and drinking beer. One day, his younger brother Shawn pays a visit and seeing him after a long time makes Mason a bit suspicious about his intentions. Mason does not have a phone. However, with Link’s help, Shawn manages to track him down anyway. When Mason asks him about the real reason behind this visit, Shawn tells him that he has found a new job and he wants Mason to lead the heist.
Mason denies the proposition as he is happily living his retirement life. He also tells Shawn that he can give him the money he needs, but he cannot proceed with the plan. Shawn tries to convince him as he doesn’t like to see a brilliant man like Mason with no action in his life. Shawn leaves an untraceable phone behind before he leaves. Later, Link calls on the cell phone. She says there is an emergency situation as Shawn has decided to lead the heist, which Mason knows will make the whole team end up in jail. So, he comes back from his retirement to save Shawn and his crew from getting caught.
How does Mason Deal with the FBI?
When Mason meets with Shawn on the road across the bank, they are about to enter. He already sees him holding a gun at the bank manager. Mason tells him to hide the gun and not to come inside the bank until he assesses the whole situation. But, while Mason is sorting things out with Link, Shawn enters the bank while keeping the manager at his gunpoint. The manager cleverly alerts the security, but Anton and Hector somehow manage the situation. Mason takes charge of the heist and asks the manager, Caras, to open the locker.
Later, Mason finds out that the box Shawn was looking for was a setup to catch their crew. Soon, there are police all around the place, and the FBI takes over the situation. Amelia works as a mediator again, and she calls to talk to Mason. Mason tells her that he needs a 50-foot distance so that they both can come to some terms. Amelia agrees to give him the 50-foot space he has asked for. In return, Mason guarantees the safety of more than 20 people inside the bank.
Later, Link asks Shawn to look for any digit inside the decoy box that they have found in the wrong locker. Mason asks Shawn how he knew about this box that he thought was carrying a lot of crypto. Shawn tells Mason that he has heard about this box from an old friend of his who was serving prison time and was recently released. Mason believes that the FBI has set a trap for them by putting the words in Shawn’s friend’s mouth. Link tries the number Shawn finds in one of the pictures from the box.
Why does Mason Fear Getting Killed?
When the number that is found in the picture links to an account Mason asks the manager about that. The manager tells them that there is no such account in the bank. However, later, with a bit of force, he agrees that the building beside the bank has a place where the VIPs keep their secret files. He then reveals that the account belongs to Abel Salazar, a very powerful man who literally controls world level things that are beyond Mason’s crew’s level.
Caras also tells them that the number does not belong to an account but a hard drive that has some of Abel’s darkest secrets. So, if he knows about someone stealing the hard drive, it will not end well for the thief or Caras as well because he is in charge of the safety. When Mason tells about Abel Salazar to Amilia, she sounds super surprised by it as well. She later goes to talk to her superior about this. He reveals that he has known it from the very beginning. But since Salazar’s lawyers are too powerful, they can not confiscate that box.
Meanwhile, Salazar’s man, Mr. Flowers, has already arrived at the spot as Amilia learns from her superior that by night, the whole situation will be shifted from the FBI to the military officials. Mason understands that it is a now or never situation so he proceeds with the plan and asks Link to find a way so that they can reach the next building from this bank. Link finds a route and they break walls to finally reach and get Salazar’s hard drive.
Cash Out (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How does Mason Save his Crew from both the FBI and Abel Salazar?
Mason had made a deal with Amilia that he would let go of two hostages per hour until they were done with their thing. But as soon as the military takes charge of the place, everything goes out of control. Mason still plays his remaining card, saying that Abel Salazar will not like it if the world knows about what is inside the hard drive. This makes the military confused. Thus, Mason earns some time for his team.
Later, one by one, everyone surrenders to the military, but Mason and Link stay inside. When the military breaks into the place, some time later a huge blast takes place inside the bank. Later, the police lose sight of Anton, Hector, and Shawn as Mason and Link are presumed dead. Amelia resigns from her job, and at the end of the film, we see her talking to Mason, who is chilling with his brother, Shawn. So, how does everything happen so smoothly?
Well, when the military entered, Mason threatened to see Mr. Flowers, Salazar’s representative, or else the building would be destroyed, and Salazar’s data would go viral. When Flowers arrives at the spot, Mason cuts a deal with him, demanding 10 million dollars for each of his members of the crew. One million dollars each for Caras and all the hostages, or else Link will press a button, and Salazar’s data will go online. Flowers agrees to the deal, and since Mason also demands a new identity for each of them, the FBI fails to find anything about him or his crew.
So, with one master stroke, Mason secures himself from being under Salazar’s radar and the FBI’s constant hunt. However, just like me, you should already have found the missing links and the loopholes in this so-called twist. There is no reason for the hostages to have a million dollars just for a busy day in the bank, where they basically ate pizza and did nothing. But, securing Caras at that crucial deal of his life was a good touch from Mason because if anything went wrong, Caras would have been the first to be confronted by Abel Salazar, a man whose threat is just as average as the film’s climax.
