The latest Showtime film, Heist 88 (2023), based on the real-life heist that took place in 1988, falls short of capturing the gravity of the actual crime. Directed by Menhaj Huda, this crime drama intends to shed light on how the lives of Black people are easily disregarded by white racist individuals in the corporate world. However, the film suffers from oddly paced and poorly edited scenes, giving the impression that they were written on the spot and shot simultaneously, barely making it to the editing room.
The scenes unfold one after the other without providing the emotional depth necessary to drive the characters to their criminal act. This lack of depth leaves us feeling disconnected from the characters and their motivations, ultimately weakening the impact of the film’s message about racial injustice and corporate greed.
Anyway, here is the complete breakdown of what takes place in the film with a detailed description of the film’s end. Spoiler Alert!
Heist 88 (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is the Showtime movie Heist 88 about?
The story unfolds during an era when the banking industry relied on verbal code confirmations for wire transfers. Jeremy Horne, a quiet and mysterious man, lives a secluded life away from the public eye. However, his life takes a turn when he attends his late brother’s memorial service in Chicago and learns that his nephew, Marshall, is drowning in debt and chased by loan sharks. Since Marshall was aware Jeremy worked in the banking sector, he asked for his help in getting a bank loan. Thinking his uncle could help Marshall, he then introduces Jeremy to his friends Rick, Danny, and LaDonna, who work at the First National Bank of Chicago.
LaDonna works in the bank’s wire transfer department, while Rick and Danny are on the night shift working in the cheque clearance department, making a meager wage of 3.25 dollars per night. Despite their financial struggles, they dream of a better future, wishing for a smoother flow of cash to improve their lives.
How does Jeremy decide to help Marshall and his friends?
Jeremy then runs a background check on Marshall’s friends and soon comes up with a plan – robbing the bank they work in. He suggests that, since they work in departments where things can easily be made to look like a glitch in the system, he tries to make them understand how discreetly wiring the money directly into an account can put a stop to their miserable lives.
Shocked and scared at the same time, the four of them are at a crossroads, thinking about how things can work for the better if the plan works or how things can go awfully wrong if some mistake happens. However, since there is no other way things may turn in the right direction for them despite working their ass off, they decide to work with Jeremy and give his plan a shot.
What plans does Jeremy make for the heist?
Jeremy then rents out a private garage where he sets up his meeting place with the four of them. He then goes ahead with the entire process of how things would take place. To complete a bank transfer, there is a transfer code provided by the company to the bank to process the transfer. After receiving the code, there is a second confirmation call that confirms the transfer code, and then the transfer proceeds.
Since LaDonna has access to these codes, and the calls are recorded, Jeremy trains Rick to mimic the exact voices of the different executives working in the target companies. He then asks each of them to keep an eye on the executives, learn their talking skills, and observe their mannerisms as they would be interacting with them on the day of the heist. On the other hand, Jeremy meets his former partners, Buddha Ray and Bree, who are still sort of pissed off with him after their last failed heist.
What does Rick find about Jeremy and his former partners?
Meanwhile, at work, LaDonna finds out that the bank will soon be computerized, and all the bank transfers will be recorded in the system, thus reducing the manual efforts and risks in the transfers. She then informs the same to Jeremy, who advances the plan much earlier than the actual day. He meets his former partners and tries to convince them that the new job will secure a life for all of them if they help him get the things he needs for a smooth execution. He also reveals his ankle monitor and tells them that he plans to surrender himself to the police after this job. Buddha Ray and Bree finally agree.
On the following day, while the two act as a distraction in the bank, Jeremy sneaks into the floor manager’s locker room and steals the latest bank details of the companies he intends to rob. However, Rick, who has been doubtful of Jeremy since the beginning, starts to question his deeds even more when he sees Buddha Ray and Bree with him. He informs the rest of the crew that none of them were told about Jeremy’s other partners.
While Marshall was unaware of his uncle’s former partners, he shared with his friends how his father, before his death, always warned him about his uncle. They decide to confront Jeremy about it, but he quickly shuts them down by sharing his story about how doing things the right way never led him to the good things he thought he deserved. He then tells them that it is up to all four of them if they want to get rid of their miserable lives.
Heist 88 (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
What happens on the day of the heist?
On the day of the main event, according to Jeremy’s plan, he would be at the payphone right outside the bank. LaDonna would show up at her desk during her regular hours, and Danny would distract his colleague with comic books and take his spot instead. Rick, on the other hand, would be at his home to take the calls and pretend to be one of the company executives. Marshall would be the getaway driver who would pick all three of them up after the job was done and leave for the airport to escape.
However, when the second confirmation call was about to take place, Rick’s phone somehow didn’t work. He tried to fix the phone frantically and was finally able to make the first transfer as planned. After the initial few seconds of hiccups, the plan worked as Jeremy had envisioned. Since Jeremy planned the heist after learning there would be a protest rally on the same street as the bank, Danny and LaDonna would merge into the crowd soon after the heist. After the job was done, Marshall then headed straight to the airport with all of them, where they waited for Jeremy to join them.
Are Jeremy and his partners able to successfully rob the bank?
While the group takes shelter in the hotel room, Jeremy, on the other hand, is summoned by the bank to confirm the transfer that is supposed to take place in the Geneva bank account. He then goes to the bank, and while the crew starts to believe that Jeremy ran away with the money since he didn’t join them immediately, this is when Jeremy calls them again to confirm the heist was successful and he will meet them at the hotel soon. After meeting them at the hotel, he hands them the passports and the plane tickets, and all of them head to the airport.
In the meantime, we also see him go to the house he had been staying in and clear it entirely, leaving no trace. He also writes a note to Bree and Buddha Ray confirming the success of the heist, where Bree gets 25% of his cut, and Buddha Ray will earn 20% of his cut (however, he tricked both of them into believing they received the same amount).
Were Jeremy and the crew able to catch the plane?
At the airport, Jeremy instructs everyone to remain discreet, pretending to not know each other. While standing in the queue, Jeremy notices Danny calling someone from the payphone and walks towards him. Danny tells him that he called his pregnant wife back home; however, Jeremy notices police officers coming after them. He asks Danny to run, and the rest of the crew also tries to flee the scene. However, Jeremy and the others get caught, and it turns out that Danny ratted Jeremy out in order to get a fair deal for him and his friends.
In a brief sequence, we learn that Danny had actually seen Jeremy wearing an ankle monitor, which prompted him to reveal his heist plan to the FBI. However, instead of the FBI’s usual way of getting things done, he got a deal finalized for him and the others in exchange for sharing nitty-gritty details of the heist and confirming Jeremy’s successful heist. The FBI asks him to stick to the plan in order to avoid getting caught by the mastermind, and at the airport, everyone gets caught. The ending of the Showtime movie Heist 88, shows Jeremy being handcuffed by the FBI with the voice of the courtroom judgment in the background, questioning if Jeremy is guilty, and him replying that he is just guilty of getting caught.
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Heist 88 (2023) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
Heist 88 (2023) Movie Cast: Keith David, Courtney B. Vance, Keesha Sharp
