The Good Thief

within an interesting heist flick. All of the leading actors are middle aged men and they are INTERESTING people who enjoy being together and respect each other. This is what captures us, the film audience -- as well as the two young actors (guy and girl) who want to be part of this engaging friendship. Nolte's warmth and ironic humor are at the center of this. As his longtime cop friend says, "Everybody likes Bob, that is the problem!". The heist is really a question of whether this group of men's unusual dignity, intelligence, and ability will be victorious over the Establishment in which people never do more then live half lives; i.e., unlike what makes the main characters appealing. Perhaps all of the films built on this classic pattern are saying, "the real criminality is never to have been alive."

"A Good Thief" is a smart heist flick with Nolte at the center as a rogue with a heart and a habit who is as at home at a casino baccarat table as he is in the streets of Nice. This film is all about Nolte, a babe, and his gang of expert thief assistants who assemble to rip off a Monte Carlo casino under the watchful eye of the cops. This well crafted flick features a cosmopolitan cast, a crisp location shoot on the Riviera, a cleverly convoluted story which gets busy and stays busy, attention to detail seldom seen in movies, and a good musical score. Recommended for anyone into heist flicks but don't expect much else. This tight little drama is all about the heist. (B)

THE GOOD THIEF (2003) *** Nick Nolte, Tcheky Karyo, Said Taghmaouri, Nutsa Kukhianidze, Mark Polish, Michael Polish, Ralph Fiennes (unbilled). Neil Jordan's ambitious remake of the French noir Jean-Pierre Melville's 1955 Bob le Flambeur shrewdly casts Nolte (in one of his best performances) as an American junkie/thief in semi-retirement who plans a final score in the glitzy Monte Carlo casino stashing some pricy art works and risk taking with a young prostitute (Kukhianidze). Stylish and skillfully filmed with an interesting skip-start staccato editing from sequence to sequence.

More than a heist film, with an interesting young cast and a terrific conclusion at the gambling tables, with Nick Nolte playing a heroin addicted compulsive gambler and all around nice guy who goes cold turkey in order to get in shape for the heist of a super swank Monte Carlo casino vault and priceless paintings. Jordan captures the mood of drugs and nightlife with the fantastic photography and very cool soundtrack, including Leonard Cohen and a great version of That's Life. The cast makes this film, especially Nutsa Kukhianidze as Anne and Said Taghmaoui as Paulo, whose interaction take the film in an even more interesting direction, while the addition of identical twins (the Polish brothers) was a stroke of genius.

THE GOOD THIEF (3+ outta 5 stars) Very good character study/caper film about a drug-addicted American criminal (Nick Nolte) in France who straightens himself out for one more Big Score. He in constantly under the watchful eye of a kindly police inspector who wants to stop him for his own good... so he hits upon a plan to devise a *fake* robbery to divert attention from the *real* one. It's a remake of an old French classic, "Bob La Flambeur" (which I haven't seen yet... so I may have a different take on this movie after I've seen the original). The cast (various character actors of different nationalities) is great... and Nolte portrays a very believable down-on-his-luck substance-abuser... but that may not be much of a stretch for him. Directed and written by Neil Jordan... it may not be one of his best movies ("The Crying Game", "The Butcher Boy") but it's still a fine piece of work.

A heist movie that oozes style, particularly in the form of Nick Nolte, gangster, part-time heroin addict (he handcuffs himself to the bed to go cold turkey before a job) and good guy. He befriends a gorgeous young waif (Nino Kukhanidze) with only altruistic motives (when she could potentially become his Achilles Heel) and proceeds to mastermind a complex heist, playing a chummy cat and mouse with the chief of police. Far classier than your average thriller, and mercifully lacking (with the occasional plot-based exception) in explosions and fast car chases.

'The Good Thief' is the best film Neil Jordan did since 'Mona Lisa' almost two decades ago. It is a classical and well written robbery story, complex enough to catch the interest, simple enough for the spectator to follow and enjoy, and with the special twist at the end that makes a good script. The main character fits Nick Nolte like life, I can imagine only Humphrey Bogart doing better in this role. There are a few other memorable characters, with the Georgian (from the other Georgia) Nutza Kukhianidze promising to become soon a star if she has enough luck to continue to work with good directors and scripts. The cinematography has a special quality, with final stills after each shot, enhancing a good digital camera work. I also liked the soundtrack, it's a mix of classic, jazz and even Leonard Cohen sounds right for a change. 8/10 on my personal scale - certainly worth seeing.