The Set-Up (1995 film)

The Set-Up is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by Strathford Hamilton and starring Billy Zane. It was based on the 1977 novel My Laugh Comes Last by James Hadley Chase.

Plot
Charlie Thorpe, a security systems expert, is caught during a robbery. When he get released from prison, a bank owner hires him to design a fool-proof system during the refurbishing of his bank. After he has completed the system, he begins getting blackmailed, to break his system.

Release
It debuted on the American premium television network Showtime on July 23, 1995.

Reception
Time Out reviewed the film, writing that it was "a movie that's more plot than characterisation, and is already doomed from the moment they cast the synthetic male lead." Variety and TV Guide also reviewed The Set-Up, the latter of which felt that "Persuasively acted by veteran smoothie James Coburn and the two romantic leads, THE SET-UP is knocked down a few pegs by the robbers--Mandylor, who seethes with "method" menace; former wrestler Tiny Lister, a Tor Johnson for the '90s, and the hammy Russo, who seems on a pilgrimage to showcase the worst aspects of Method-acted hooliganism in all his performances. " Of Coburn, a reviewer for The Age noted that "the veteran film heavy deserves better."