TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Movie buffs catching the latest film releases on Amazon may have noticed a familiar face on their screens, Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun.
The mayor was live with Dana Winklepleck on WAWV Live at Five on Monday.
During the interview, Mayor Sakbun discussed a number of topics important to area residents including planned upgrades to traffic surrounding the new Terre Haute Casino Resort, building permit values increasing in the city, and his coming city update address.
But one topic may have caught many by surprise. Our Mayor apparently appears in a new major film release.
The movie is called Cash Out, and stars John Travolta, however Mayor Sakbun certainly isn’t being paid for a publicity tour.
“I think it’s like seven bucks on Amazon Prime, DO NOT PURCHASE IT,” Sakbun said. “It’s a horrible movie, I’m in the first 30 seconds, but I am in the trailer though!”
A film synopsis on Rotten Tomatoes reads as follows;
In this tense thriller, John Travolta is Mason, leader of a high-end crew of thieves that hang it up for good after a double-cross spells a near miss with the law. But when he’s thrust into his younger brother Shawn’s hare-brained scheme to rob a bank — and tempted by what could be his biggest score ever — Mason jumps right back into his old ways. Then the heist goes awry, and the thieves are trapped inside the bank with hostages while surrounded by SWAT teams, the FBI, and Interpol. Included among the authorities waiting to nab the crew is someone Mason knows well: lead negotiator Decker (Kristin Davis) — Mason’s former lover.
The film which is described as a “basic bank heist movie” has united audiences and critics in agreement with a 24% critic rating and a 27% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, Amazon users are split when it comes to the film’s quality with a whopping 2 reviews. One user who gave the film five stars said the film had “a little sense of humor in it.” While another user gave the movie 1 star and claimed it is a “new low for Travolta.”
Sakbun said he had a friend from the military that was supposed to play the role, but something came up and Sakbun ended up being tapped as the back-up option.
Sakbun said he played a security guard, and says he gets hit in the face in the movie.
It was filmed years ago in Columbus Georgia.
The film cost $6.99 to rent currently on Amazon Prime.
View the mayor’s entire Live at Five interview below for more pressing, local topics of discussion.