Man of Action Plot Synopsis
Inspired by the life of Lucio Urtubia, the film explores the history of this enigmatic Spanish anarchist who ran a legendary counterfeiting operation in Paris. When the fake Traveler's Checks were handed over, America's biggest bank - City Bank - took notice of Lucio and tried to bring him down.
Before any of that happens, the movie spends a lot of time introducing Lucio and his history, starting with Lucio's upbringing in the 40's and how he hates the system so much. After his father's death, Lucio eventually meets Quico, a charismatic anarchist who teaches him the tricks of the trade and an important piece of advice, never trust a stranger.
What is Lucio's plan?
After an earlier plan involving counterfeit bills, Lucio devises an ingenious plan to forge Traveler's Checks instead. After managing to trick Teller, Lucio has big plans to hit the banks hard. The team each decide to take a different jar and hit 12 o'clock at the same time.
That way, when the Tellers are checking the serial numbers, they won't realize something is wrong. By the time the checks finally arrive at headquarters and they realize they've been duped, it will be too late, as Lucio and the anarchists would have already taken the money and distributed it to those who really needed it. If everything works, they can do it again every month.
After the plan succeeds, Mr. Barrow is sent to Paris on behalf of City Bank to solve it and is promptly grilled by Inspector Costello, who suspects Lucio is responsible. Costello has a tail, Lucio's partner Anna tells her husband to think of his daughter Juliet before he does anything stupid.
Everyone thinks Lucio's bigger plan - to cash more than 1 million traveler's checks - is too risky and risky. Lucio refuses, loses the tail that Costello planted on him, and prepares for the big deal. During a meeting with Tony Greco, Lucio forgets the number one rule taught by Quico - never trust a stranger.
Who is Tony Greco? Who wants to kill Lucio?
Tony Greco is actually a police officer and Charlie Alvarez was in it. Instead of spending 20 years behind bars, he was offered $10,000 to help catch Lucio for the crime. After the betrayal, he goes to Buenos Aires by plane and leaves. As a result, Lucio looks up to the age of 15, only to receive death threats, including a package containing a bullet.
Lucio talks to Inspector Costello, but Lucio is in the dark about the death threats. He points out that Lucio pissed off a lot of people, including the Secret Service and the Americans. However, the Americans we know Costello plays dirty have no love for himself. In fact, Costello even quietly told Barrow that he would not plant false evidence on Lucio to get him arrested.
Anne's phone is tracked and Lucio is discovered and arrested in the phone booth.
Does Lucio talk his way to freedom?
At the police station, Lucio talks to Mr. Barrow and offers a deal. Even though Barrow has Lucio, he doesn't have the printing equipment and all his checks, so the operation will continue without him. It will never end.
In exchange for Lucio handing over all the plates and checks, Lucio offers him absolution from all charges as well as a decent compensation package for the inconvenience. With City Bank's reputation, Barrow doesn't have much of a choice. Barrow reluctantly agrees to take the deal, and while Costello sees it as a victory for the little bricklayer beating the system, Barrow sees the tip as the House always wins and saves City Bank to move on to bigger things.
How does Action Man end?
As the film ends, Lucio reunites with Anna and Juliet in Bolivia, where he spends his days. The thing is, no one knows how much Lucio charged City Bank to stop the anarchist feud, and I don't think we ever will. When I ask Lucio, he simply replies, "a lot." Shortly after Lucio Urtubia's actions, major banks looked for an alternative to Traveler's Checks, which led to the rise of cards and ATMs in the mid-1980s.
Lucio sadly passed away on 18th July 2020, Anne and Lucio separated before that but remained good friends until his later death.