Review:  ‘Plastic’ a slick, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’-type crime caper

The slick, fast-paced “Plastic” is a guilty pleasure of a crime thriller involving an intrepid quartet of credit card-scamming young Brits. As mindless entertainment goes, it’s a pretty watchable time-passer.

Based in part on a true story, the film follows the exploits of university students Sam (Ed Speleers of “Downton Abbey”), Fordy (Will Poulter of “We’re the Millers”), Yatesey (Alfie Allen of “Game of Thrones”) and Rafa (Sebastian De Souza), who steal or otherwise appropriate the titular “plastic” to buy and, of course, sell big-ticket items to willing customers. Easy-peasy.

That is, until loose cannon Yatesey ends up stealing the wrong thing from the wrong guy: the accountant to ruthless gangster Marcel (Thomas Kretschmann). In retaliation, Marcel gives our foursome two weeks to bring him 2 million pounds — or it’s curtains. Not so easy-peasy.

What follows is an “Ocean’s Eleven”-type caper involving a cooperative blond (Emma Rigby), a glitzy trip to Miami, the sultan of Brunei, a twisty and far-fetched diamond heist, double-crosses, a plethora of crooks and goons, and the requisite chases, shootouts and corpse pileup.

Director Julian Gilbey who co-wrote with Chris Howard, Sacha Bennett and Will Gilbey, whips through the action with workmanlike vigor, though he often leapfrogs the logic in favor of sizzle. The cast members make the most of their sketchy roles, with Speleers investing his ringleader Sam with alluring anti-hero soulfulness.

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“Plastic.”

MPAA rating: R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language, drug use.

Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes.

Playing: At AMC’s Universal CityWalk Stadium 19. Also on VOD.