It seems that Hollywood's found its new favourite genre;the heist movie, already we've had big budget extravaganzas such as 'Ocean's 11', 'The Score, 'The Thomas Crown Affair' and the appropriately named 'Heist'. All of these movies have enabled large ensemble casts of important Hollywood actors to devise and execute brilliantly inventive thefts, but in the process have generally sacrificed any personality in the characters. I was therefore looking forward to the 'good thief' as an elegant tale not only of devilishly clever thievery, but also(due to the fact this was being directed by Neil Jordan) as a character study of flawed, fallible but ultimately likable people.
Alas t'was not to be. Jordan has in fact made a very stylish but emotionally hollow film with frustrating plot holes and a 'twist' (and I use the word 'twist' very loosely, I saw it coming a mile off) ending which is likely to leave audiences baffled and cheated.
The film centers around Bob(Nick Nolte) a has-been thief and heroin addict who, bizarrely, is loved by everyone. However all is about to change when he befriends a 17 year old prostitute and rescues her from an abusive pimp, as soon he has chained himself to his bed in order to go cold turkey and has begun to plot an elaborate (and utterly ridiculous) painting theft with a large group of shady misfits.
Sadly all the plot potential is squandered, as Jordan opts instead for a sleek cruise through the nightclubs, brothels and dark alley ways of Monte Carlo, paying virtually no attention to the characters and employing an extremely distracting method of editing; as the camera pauses in freeze-frame for a split second as a scene ends. The plot drags on at a soporific pedestrian pace, indeed the heist is never gone into in the specifics but discussed in a distinctly broad manner (hinting that perhaps Jordan hadn't given much thought to how the Heist would actually work). Still, Jordan has always had a good command of dialogue and there are plenty of good one-liners and witticisms, though these sadly are wasted as the actors (particulairly Nolte) mumble their lines or speak with such strong accents that their dialogue is basically unintelligible. Had it not been for the subtitle option on the DVD I doubt I would even of gathered that Nick Nolte's Character was named Bob.
In fairness the actors are well cast and Nolte was born to play Bob(it's just a pity you can't understand what he's saying) and the soundtrack, which is an eclectic mixture of Techno,rock and French pop, adds considerable atmosphere to the proceedings.
I loved Jordan's films 'The Crying Game' and 'Interview with the vampire' but this film fell short of my expectations by some way. My score: 5 out of 10
Alas t'was not to be. Jordan has in fact made a very stylish but emotionally hollow film with frustrating plot holes and a 'twist' (and I use the word 'twist' very loosely, I saw it coming a mile off) ending which is likely to leave audiences baffled and cheated.
The film centers around Bob(Nick Nolte) a has-been thief and heroin addict who, bizarrely, is loved by everyone. However all is about to change when he befriends a 17 year old prostitute and rescues her from an abusive pimp, as soon he has chained himself to his bed in order to go cold turkey and has begun to plot an elaborate (and utterly ridiculous) painting theft with a large group of shady misfits.
Sadly all the plot potential is squandered, as Jordan opts instead for a sleek cruise through the nightclubs, brothels and dark alley ways of Monte Carlo, paying virtually no attention to the characters and employing an extremely distracting method of editing; as the camera pauses in freeze-frame for a split second as a scene ends. The plot drags on at a soporific pedestrian pace, indeed the heist is never gone into in the specifics but discussed in a distinctly broad manner (hinting that perhaps Jordan hadn't given much thought to how the Heist would actually work). Still, Jordan has always had a good command of dialogue and there are plenty of good one-liners and witticisms, though these sadly are wasted as the actors (particulairly Nolte) mumble their lines or speak with such strong accents that their dialogue is basically unintelligible. Had it not been for the subtitle option on the DVD I doubt I would even of gathered that Nick Nolte's Character was named Bob.
In fairness the actors are well cast and Nolte was born to play Bob(it's just a pity you can't understand what he's saying) and the soundtrack, which is an eclectic mixture of Techno,rock and French pop, adds considerable atmosphere to the proceedings.
I loved Jordan's films 'The Crying Game' and 'Interview with the vampire' but this film fell short of my expectations by some way. My score: 5 out of 10