Cash Out

John Travolta scores in this tense, slick crime thriller as the leader of an elite crew of thieves whose last big score turns into a total debacle.

John Travolta is the poster child for the up-and-down swings a Hollywood career can take. A huge star at a very young age, he’s been written off numerous times as the quality of his movies dipped — then made just as many comebacks with boffo box office and Oscar nominations.

But it’s now been 15 years since he had a certified hit and probably 10 since he made anything you’ve even heard of, with the possible exception of “Gotti,” mostly starring in low-budget straight-to-video schlock.

I don’t know if “Cash Out” is enough to put him back on top, but this tense, slick crime thriller is at least a modest score.

(It’s getting a limited theatrical release this Friday, though you’ll probably have an easier time renting it on all the usual digital platforms, releasing same date.)

Travolta plays Mason Goddard, a veteran thief known as the “Ace of Spades” for his intricately planned heists. He always uses the same crew including his safecracker brother Shawn (Lukas Haas), whiz hacker girl Link (Natali Yura) and muscle Anton (Quavo) and Hec (Noel Gugliemi).

Mason is now getting on in years and looking for that proverbial last big score so he can retire to his own private island… two would be even better. Travolta is 70, looks about 45, and I’d guess Mason is somewhere in between.

Things open with a heist at a fly-in party. If you don’t know about these, they’re a real thing where the ultra-rich have like a barbecue together, except the food is fancier and they don’t drive there but fly to a tarmac in their private jets.

(I’m sure Travolta, a real-life aviation fanatic, was sold at the pitch meeting as soon as they opened with this premise.)

Mason and his girlfriend and partner in crime, Amelia (Kristin Davis), are part of the guest list and ask for a sneak peek at the host’s uber-exclusive car collection. Again, different tax bracket: these autos aren’t driven, but simply sit in private garages to be ogled and used as collateral for tax-avoidance loans.

Let’s put it this way: a Lamborghini is merely the entry-level appetizer.

Without giving anything away, things do not go well for the thieves, but especially Mason: Amelia turns coat on him, revealing herself to be an FBI agent who’d carried on a two-year relationship just to catch him in the act. Mason doesn’t mind almost getting caught, but is depressed he swallowed the honeypot bait so hard he’s now choking on it.

Flash forward a few months, and Shawn has set up a bank job to get a multi-million-dollar crypto currency wallet out of a safe deposit box. Mason has demurred, not wanting to live out his days in an orange prison jumpsuit like their father, but jumps in at the last minute to prevent it from becoming a total clusterfark. Soon he and the crew are trapped inside the bank with 23 hostages.

And guess who’s the ace negotiator the FBI sends in? Why, Amelia, of course! This leads to a cat-and-mouse game of phone conversations between them, partly as to the matter at hand but also with a heavy mix of flirting and regret.

Things eventually get darker, as it turns out the actual target is a “dirt box” of juicy incriminating secrets by one of the top criminals in the world, Abel Salazar (much discussed, never seen). Swen Temmel plays the douchey bank manager who is forced to tag along with Mason and Shawn as they sneak and bash their way through the bank building’s innards in search of the elusive dirt box.

“Cash Out” was directed by Ives — his first and only credit listed on IMDb, so kinda presumptuous to already be pulling the single-name thing — from a screenplay by Dipo Oseni and Doug Richardson. It’s fairly derivative stuff, with Mason as the ice-cold veteran thief completely unflapped by the horde of police outside with guns.

But it’s well-made for a low-budget flick, with solid production values and some interesting cinematic work. There are several scenes where the camera swoops and careens at high speed around people or hardware in a way that’s both thrilling and intimate. I have no idea how they did it, unless they had the best drone pilot in the world.

Travolta brings a charismatic, world-weary charm to the role of Mason, a guy who’s usually one step ahead of everyone else but never seems overly impressed with himself. With his shaved pate and natty beard, he resembles a wolf that got cultured.

The rest of the cast keeps it pretty one-note, with Haas garnering some laughs as the screw-up brother and Davis a bundle of nervous energy that Amelia tries to cover up with a tough-lawlady shtick.

While it’s nobody’s idea of a super-original flick, “Cash Out” is an able star vehicle for Travolta, who still has star chops and can carry something like this with panache. Maybe there’s time for him to steal the spotlight back for a few beats.