[imagesource: Open Road]

From this point forward, I will measure every so-called conman against Mark Acklom.

Perhaps that’s unfair, given that Acklom has been dubbed the UK’s most notorious conman with a long and storied history of defrauding his victims, but the bar has been set.

In Copshop, Gerard Butler’s latest action thriller, the conman is Teddy Muretto, played by Frank Grillo.

Without wanting to give too much away, here’s the official synopsis via Collider:

Tearing through the Nevada desert in a bullet-ridden Crown Vic, wily con artist Murretto hatches a desperate plan to hide out from lethal hitman Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler).

He sucker-punches rookie officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder) to get himself arrested and locked up in a small-town police station. Jail can’t protect Murretto for long, and Viddick schemes his own way into detention, biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission.

When the arrival of a competing assassin (Toby Huss) ignites all-out mayhem, mounting threats force Viddick to get creative if he wants to finish the job and escape the explosive situation.

Does anyone else feel like synopses give away too much these days?

I would love to how The Sixth Sense billed itself back in 1999, before it hit the big screen.

IMDb’s description says only that “a boy who communicates with spirits seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist”.

Then you watch the trailer, you go to the movie, and you don’t have to worry about anybody posting spoilers because social media isn’t really a thing yet.

So the disheartened child psychologist is actually – never mind, I don’t want to be yelled at.

Anyway, Copshop. Here’s that trailer:

That’s about as Gerard Butler a trailer as you’ll ever see.

Fun fact – director Joe Carnahan is credited as a co-writer, alongside a chap called Kurt McLeod, a Canadian financial advisor who writes scripts as a hobby on the side.

Not too shabby when your script ends up starring one of Hollywood’s leading men.

Copshop hits US theatres on September 17.

[source:collider]