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ITALIAN JOB (***)
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Movie Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
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Directed by:
F.Gary Gray |
Written by:
Donna Powers, Wayne Powers and Troy Kennedy-Martin |
Starring:
Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron |
Running time:
124 minutes
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Released:
5/30/03 |
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Rated PG-13
for violence and some language. |
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"...gets the job done" |
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The 2003 version of The Italian Job is less of a
straightforward remake of the 1969 picture than it is a complete
re-interpretation. Enough has changed that it's possible to see the two films
not as the same story separated by three decades, but as distinct entities.
Expectedly, there are plot similarities (the centerpiece heist contains many of
the same elements, including the minis), but the chemistry and motivations of
the thieves is different, and the playful, semi-comedic tone of the original has
been replaced by something a little less lighthearted.
It's easy to do a heist movie wrong - the genre is littered with countless
examples, some by prominent filmmakers. F. Gary Gray (director of the recently
released A Man Apart) has discovered the right recipe - keep things moving,
develop a nice rapport between the leads, toss in the occasional surprise, and
top with a sprinkling of panache. The Italian Job isn't a masterpiece, but it
gets the job done. There are some problems (in particular, the climactic car
chase - the one featuring the minis - goes on a little too long), but, for the
most part, I was entertained. There's a fair amount of suspense, and I was
generally impressed by the thoroughness of the caper plots.
Despite being called The Italian Job, only about 20 minutes of the action takes
place in Italy. The lion's share of screen time belongs to Los Angeles, with a
quick stop in Philadelphia along the way. (It's worth noting that both the
Venice and Philadelphia scenes appear to have been filmed on location, not in a
"surrogate city" like Toronto. This is surprisingly important to the movie's
strong sense of atmosphere.) There are three capers (or two and one-half,
depending on how you count), the most audacious and ingenious of which occurs
during the final 20 minutes. The Italian Job has plenty of little twists and
turns, but the storyline is not so serpentine that the average viewer will find
himself or herself becoming lost. Nevertheless, trips to the bathroom or snack
bar are not recommended.
The movie opens in Venice, where a group of six crooks are about to pull off the
heist of a lifetime: $35 million in gold, and they plan to do it without holding
a gun. The rogues' gallery is comprised of: Charlie (Mark Wahlberg), the young
leader running his first big job; John (Donald Sutherland), the crusty veteran
safecracker who is Charlie's mentor; Lyle (Seth Green), the computer whiz who
was "the real inventor of Napster;" Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), who once drove
across the United States just so he could set the record for the longest freeway
chase; Half Ear (Mos Def), who, at age 10, put one too many M80s in a toilet
bowl; and Steve (Edward Norton), who is about to betray the other five. Once
they have the gold, Steve pulls a gun on John, shoots him, then leaves the
others for dead. A year later, the group, now including John's daughter, Stella
(Charlize Theron), a "professional vault & safe technician," tracks down Steve
and plots to take away the gold he stole from them (or what's left of it).
With this film, Mark Wahlberg is appearing in his third recent re-make (the
other two: Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie). Wisely, he doesn't
attempt to mimic Michael Caine (who played the part in the original), but
instead uses his own brand of understated charisma to get us to like Charlie.
Charlize Theron, who is incapable of a low-wattage performance, brings some
energy to her scenes with Wahlberg. Seth Green, Jason Stratham, and Mos Def
alternately provide background muscle and comic relief. Edward Norton does his
best Snidely Whiplash impersonation, right down to the mustache.
The Italian Job has occasional busts of smart dialogue ("There are [thieves] who
steal to enrich their lives, and ones who steal to define their lives"), but not
enough to elevate it to the level of David Mamet's most recent caper movie,
Heist. And, while it boasts a less fatuous tone than the original (no Noel
Coward or Benny Hill), there are times when it goes for the funny bone. As one
of the early entries into the 2003 Summer Movie Sweepstakes, The Italian Job
delivers all that one could reasonably hope from it, and that makes it worth
squeezing in between The Matrix Reloaded and The Hulk. |
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ITALIAN JOB © 2003 Paramount
Pictures
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2009 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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