-By Eric Monder

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Monty Miranda’s lighthearted little caper movie Skills Like This seems to be gaining a cult following, which is a bit mystifying. Frankly, it’s surprising this movie isn’t going straight to DVD.

In Spencer Berger’s screenplay, from a story by Berger and Gabriel Tigerman, three young Denver men find themselves unable to keep steady jobs or achieve success with their creative endeavors. Having failed as a writer, Max (played by Berger) decides to radically change course and rob a bank—for fun and profit. His pal Tommy (Brian D. Phelan) encourages the plan, while Dave (Tigerman), a nervous sort, has to be convinced of the benefits.

Over a three-day period, Max robs the bank, celebrates with his friends, and meets and falls in love with Lucy (Kerry Knuppe), the teller who handed him the money. Eventually, Lucy demands that Max stop his criminal activities, but he argues it is his métier. Finally, after Lucy threatens to leave Max and his grandfather dies, our “hero” starts to regret his actions and tries to make amends. Maybe.

In this period of economic turmoil, Skills Like This should have been a black-comic comment about the revenge of the little guy against banking institutions and the wealthy, something akin to Fun with Dick and Jane (the original, not the awful remake). As it stands, Berger and director Miranda have concocted a completely tone-deaf, mildly offensive farce about robbing for the hell of it.

The first part of the film jumbles so much of its action with flashy cutting that it seems like one very long trailer for itself. Once the narrative slows down, it does so to a snail’s pace. After the robbery, there remains little left for the characters to do other than spend the money and look for women. Max’s standoff with his new girlfriend, Lucy, provides the only sort of conflict, but we don’t really care about any of these irresponsible and selfish people. (And why should Max’s love for this woman be the only impetus for his “crisis of conscience”?)

Skills Like Us shows a dull competency in most technical departments, and Berger (who resembles Noah Wyle with an afro) does better as an actor than as a screenwriter—the unintended irony being that the character he has written for himself gives up on writing! The only element to really stand out, however, is the score. Neat songs from well-known bands like New Order and Wired mix well with new original compositions throughout the film. You’d be better advised to buy the soundtrack and skip the movie.