Release Date: May 30, 2003
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Mos Def, Donald Sutherland
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Written by: Donna Powers, Wayne Powers
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (violence, some language)
The Italian Job is another success in the heist thriller subgenre, as well as another notch in the burgeoning genre of heist film remakes. Although there are few who can compete with the likes of Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Brad Pitt (who all had a hand in one of the most well-received heist film remakes, Ocean’s Eleven), Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, and Edward Norton give it a go and come quite close in this generic but entertaining movie.
Based on the 1969 comedy of the same name starring Michael Caine, this film has Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) and the usual caper movie suspects at its center. At the outset, the gang pulls off the a $35 million gold heist in Venice -- the eponymous Italian job. The team is comprised of veteran safecracker John Bridger (Donald Sutherland), computer expert Lyle (Seth Green), demolitions man Left-Ear (Mos Def), along with Handsome Rob (Jason Statham) and Steve Frezelli (Edward Norton), and upon completion, the crew agrees to spread the wealth evenly.
But Steve has other plans and takes it all, killing Bridger in the process and leaving the rest of the crew for dead. In fact they’re anything but, and so Charlie rounds up the old gang, plus John’s daughter Stella (Charlize Theron), also a safe expert, to track down the gold and get it back from Steve. In so doing, Croker’s gang devises an ingenious plan to get the gold back and revenge John’s death -- all in the middle of the biggest traffic jam in Los Angeles history.
The Italian Job is fun to watch for the same reason that films like Ocean’s Eleven, Heist, and The Thomas Crown Affair were so fun to watch -- it never gets old seeing the good bad guys outsmarting the real bad guys. Now, Job doesn’t have the style that Soderbergh brought to Eleven; it doesn't have the quick, smart dialogue that David Mamet laced throughout Heist; and it doesn't even have the suave lead character that Steve McQueen (and later Pierce Brosnan) played so well in Thomas Crown. But it’s still an entertaining film that will keep viewers guessing, or at least interested.
Either way, Wahlberg and Norton play well off each other as the two principal characters, Charlie and Steve. This isn’t Norton’s best work -- he sports a Vincent Price mustache and essentially reprises his role from The Score -- but Wahlberg is proving more and more frequently he can lead a cast (see also: his starring turn in the remake of The Truth About Charlie). Mos Def, Seth Green, and Jason Statham also lend solid supporting performances that warrant quite a few laughs and lighthearted moments.
The heists are also plenty elaborate, and especially the climactic one involving an enormous Los Angeles traffic jam -- which, despite the $35 million payout, will still remind more than a few viewers of a commuter’s worst nightmare. But even with traffic at a complete standstill, director Gary Gray works in an exciting chase scene involving Mini Coopers that make up for the slower scenes in which Charlie’s crew plans the whole setup.
Gray is a talented director, and this film stacks up to his other top-notch thriller, The Negotiator (though the real ugly duckling on his résumé is the Vin Diesel starrer A Man Apart). It wastes little time getting to the exciting parts and consistently proves to be a thrilling good time. Though it may not be the best heist movie ever made, nor even the best remake of a heist movie ever made, The Italian Job still has the characteristics of a supremely enjoyable one.
-- Michael J. Eiff (mjeiff@hotmail.com)