A
film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net.
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 Mini Cooper automobiles), 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of the original has been replaced by something a little less lighthearted.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. Director F.
Gary Gray has discovered the right recipe – keep things moving, develop a
nice rapport among 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 Mini Coopers – 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 M80 firecrackers 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 bursts 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. [Berardinelli’s rating: *** out of 4 stars]
Labels:
action, auto-racing, crime, thriller
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