ARMORED

Armored is a 2009 American crime suspense movie directed by Nimród Antal, written by first-time writer James V. Simpson, and starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno and Laurence Fishburne.

Ty Hackett, a war hero, having bagged the Silver Star in Iraq (Columbus Short) is getting ready for work. He wakes up his younger brother, Jimmy (Andre Kinney), to get ready for high school. Ty is picked up by Mike Cochrone (Matt Dillon), and they carpool to work at the Eagle Shield Armored Truck Co.

Ty, Mike and Baines (Laurence Fishburne) go to a bank. They pick up the cash and on the way back, Baines notices a black van speeding towards them. The van stops, and cloaked men get out and attach an explosive machine on the back of the armored truck. Ty is scared and braces for the outburst, which turns out to be just a bottle rocket. Mike and Baines cackle hysterically, and the men take off their hoods: it was Ty's final test and now he is a full-fledged guard. The guys go out for drinks to celebrate.

While drinking, they tell him a story about a hijacked armored truck in Abilene years ago where they got away with $4 million; the thieves were never caught and the cash was never found. At work, Ty asks Ashcroft for more shifts; he is in trouble of losing his house to the bank. While they are driving, Mike talks again about the Abilene heist, and tells him that he thinks it was a false that the guards took the money.

At a hot dog stand, where local Sheriff Eckehart (Milo Ventimiglia) is there, Mike tells Ty that tomorrow they will most likely be carrying $42 million in their truck. Mike tells him that the other four guys on the team are in, and they are going to jack the entire $42 million, and sham they were really hijacked. Ty is in ordeal at the plan of robbing the firm and refuses a ride, and runs the whole way home.

Once home, Ty is met by a lady from Child Protective Services. Jimmy has missed more school than he's attended, and she is of opinion of putting him in further care, especially when she hears they may lose the home. The next morning, Mike is at the bus stop and waits for Ty, but he never does. In the locker room, suddenly Ty shows up and makes Mike promise that no one will be injured. Mike swears.The two trucks go the bank, and each has three agents: one team is Mike, Baines and Ty, and the other truck has Quinn (Jean Reno), Palmer (Amaury Nolasco), and Dobbs (Skeet Ulrich). The money is divided into the two trucks, while be guarded by powerfully armed guards. The two trucks drive off and radio in at the checkpoint. Ashcroft OK's the position and expects them in 51 minutes.

The trucks pull into an deserted steel mill, which is next to electrical transformers and they lose radio contact due to interference. Inside, they put it in duffel bags and then down deep in one of the smokestacks. They see an old homeless man move past a window, and chase him but he leaps off the barrier in a worried leap of faith. Ty rushes down and drags him towards a truck. Baines shoots the homeless man in the back. Ty is angry. Mike is angry at Baines for shooting him, but comes to know they had no other choice. Ty runs to one of the trucks, and locks himself in. Mike takes the other truck and follows him in a high-speed chase through the steel mill. Mike finally gets ahead and rams Ty's truck. The trucks crash. Ty turns on the siren, and Mike fumbles with the hood and then pulls out the fuse, turning off the alarm bell.

Meanwhile Sheriff Eckehart hears a faded siren, and goes Mike and the gang realize Ty isn't coming out, and they only have 40 minutes left, so they conspire to hit the bolts on the hinges of the armored truck's back doors. They will kill Ty and tell the cops he died a hero trying to stop the hijacking. They begin hitting the thick steel hinges. Ty whispers to Dobbs while the others are striking the hinge, and gets him to help him. Dobbs attempts to get the fuse from the other truck to give to Ty, and Baines catches him. He beats up Dobbs and then pours gas all over the engine. But Mike stops him. Palmer then stabs Dobbs.

Sheriff Eckehart drives around the lot, and loses radio contact. Before he can enter the building, Mike comes out, and tells him he is the security guard for the property and also the handyman.Ty makes an effort to hook up the siren, it sounds, and Baines fires the sheriff with his gun. While they are distracted with the sheriff, Ty sneaks out of the truck and lights the heap of stolen money on fire with a flare, and runs back. The guys run to the money, and Ty takes the sheriff to the armored truck and locks him in with himself. Without saying anything, Quinn drives the other truck away.While Quinn is gone, Ty sticks dollar bills all over the windows so they can't see in, and he sneaks out with the sheriff's radio, to go to the roof and try to get a signal. He does and gets a call out.

Quinn comes back with Jimmy, who he has kidnapped. Mike threatens to shoot Jimmy in the head, and so Ty opens the truck doors. After a long effort Ty wins over Mike and then Ty regains consciousness in the hospital. Ashcroft walks out, and tells Ty that Sheriff Eckehart explained all that Ty did to save him, and he mentions there might even be a prize.

It was released on December 4, 2009. The movie received mixed to positive reviews, getting a 57% (fresh) rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The cinematography of Andrzej Sekula (whose work also appears in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction) helps capture that mood, according to Scott.