Movie audiences often question what happens to their heroes — or villains — after they ride off into the sunset. The credits roll, a strategically-chosen score begins blaring, and the characters we’ve just spent two hours of our lives with are never heard from again.

Trying to fulfill this gap in the story line comes “After the Sunset,” a comical tale of thievery and troubled love in paradise. While giving us a look into the retired lives of two infamous diamond thieves, “Sunset” plays off clever humor and elaborate action sequences, making it worth every penny of the admission fee.

Pierce Brosnan plays Max Burdett, a seemingly uncatchable jewel thief who threw down his gloves after his last big heist and is going coastal to a tropical island with his lover Lola Cirillo, played by Salma Hayek.

Ready to make waves in their retirement plans is FBI agent Stan Lloyd, played by Woody Harrelson, who was the failed protector of Burdett’s last score. Seeking payback, Lloyd tracks down the couple to their luxurious abode, where he suspects the two are actually still very much on the job.

With very few slow moments, “Sunset” gives its audiences a break from the cold temperatures outside with laugh-riddled dialogue and fast-action lifestyles heating up the screen with the likings of a summer blockbuster.

The love-hate relationship that grows between Brosnan and Harrelson is an especially entertaining dynamic, as the two form an unlikely odd couple who drive the movie all the way to final frame.

Off-screen compatibility in the duo seems to fuel an on-screen dynamic that is successful in portraying the mood of a haphazard relationship. Their hilarious ordeals, from catching a small shark to being found sleeping in the same bed by Harrelson’s superior, create numerous opportunities that get the audience’s laughs and approval.

High stakes, plenty of celebrity cameos and a seemingly endless production budget are shot in a color-intensive, glitzy atmosphere, also giving the movie an eye-candy quality that walks in stride with the likes of 2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven.”

The downfall of Hayek’s character is that her nympho-antics are only entertaining up until the sixth time she woos Brosnan into the sack.

The love theme begins to grow repetitive and cheesy as she seems to embody the role of a perpetual play thing, burdening the fast-paced persona of the film. However, this oversight is more than counteracted by the film’s fun and easygoing attitude.

There is nothing about this movie not to like: humor, action, tropical umbrella drinks, beautiful women and large, rare gems are all mixed together in a little slice of paradise.

What is left in the end is a stylized cat-and-mouse chase that will satisfy movie audiences.

“After the Sunset” is one of the most refreshing and surprising projects from Hollywood cinema in recent months. With the wave of horror-genre cinema parading a multitude of shock-and-peril movies, “Sunset” gives the heart a rest and works another part of the anatomy: the gut.