Recently I’ve seen some commercials on tv about The Italian Job returning to theaters on August 29. The movie was originally released in May. I wasn’t able to go see it then. I’m not really sure why it was released to theaters again now, but it gave me the chance to see the movie.
Stella Bridger received a phone call from her father John that woke her up. He was in Venice, which meant he violated his parole. He told Stella that this was his last job. John was a safecracker. He had worked with Charlie Croker in the past. This time Charlie was in charge of the job. Lyle was a computer expert and Rob was the driver of the getaway vehicle. Left Ear was in charge of the explosives. Steve seemed to be helping with the explosives, and he arranged for some other people who would be involved. Things went as planned and they were able to steal 37 million dollars worth of gold bars. Then things turned bad when Steve double crossed them. John was shot and killed. Steve assumed that the others were dead as well.
A year later Charlie went to see Stella. She was also a safecracker, but she didn’t break into them. She seemed to be sort of like a lock smith for safes. Charlie found Steve in L.A. and discovered that he had been selling some of the gold bars. Charlie wanted to steal the gold from Steve. Charlie wanted Stella to work with him because no one else could crack the safe Steve got. Stella said she wasn’t interested, but she later changed her mind.
Charlie introduced her to the other members of the team and they started planning how to get the gold from Steve. Rob seemed to be skeptical about Stella being involved, but he got over it. Lyle managed to find a way to tap into the controls for the traffic lights in the city while continually complaining that he was the one who really invented Napster. Mini Cooper cars became part of the plan. The team worked on their plan. Some unexpected things came up and they had to adjust.
CAST
Mark Wahlberg - Charlie Croker
Charlize Theron - Stella Bridger
Donald Sutherland - John Bridger
Jason Statham - Rob
Seth Green - Lyle
Mos Def - Left Ear
Edward Norton - Steve
F. Gary Gray - Director
The Italian Job was released in May of 2003 and again on August 29, 2003. The movie was rated PG-13 and 111 minutes long. There wasn’t much swearing or violence in the movie. Young children probably wouldn’t have any interest in the movie, but it could be ok for older children to see. I just found out that this movie was a remake. I’ve never seen the original, so I don’t know how this one compares to that or what was changed.
I did enjoy The Italian Job and was entertained by it. I thought that the way the heists were done was different. I have seen other heist movies, but I haven’t seen one that was done in quite this way before. I don’t know how it was done that same way in the original movie or not. There were a few scenes in the movie that seemed to move a bit slower, but overall the movie was fast paced. I wasn’t bored by what was going on in it.
The Italian Job wasn’t action packed, but there was enough going on to keep things interesting. There was a chase near the beginning of the movie through the canals of Venice. Later in the movie there was a chase involving three Mini Coopers, some motorcycles, and a helicopter. All the action seemed to be either in the beginning or the end of the movie. The middle was made up of preparations and planning for getting the gold back from Steve.
There was a little bit of violence in a few scenes of The Italian Job, but it wasn’t a violent movie overall. Guns weren’t used in the heist at the beginning of the movie, but Steve and his men did use guns when they took the gold. John was shot and killed. A bit later in the movie, someone else was shot and killed. There were a few explosions in the movie. Someone was hit a few times. That was the extent of the violence in the movie. I don’t think it was so violent that it would offend anyone.
There were a few things in The Italian Job that were funny, but it wasn’t a funny movie overall. There were a few things that happened that helped to lighten the mood a bit. A lot of the humor was provided by Lyle and his ranting about Napster. Some characters said a few things once or twice that were funny.
There was a lot of impressive driving done in The Italian Job. Most of it was done in Mini Coopers. Those are very small cars, and very maneuverable. Stella had one of those cars and was very good at driving it and weaving through traffic. At one point she parked it between two SUVs and it looked tiny. A bit later in the movie a decision was made to use Mini Coopers in the heist. Those cars could go places that larger cars couldn’t. Charlie and Rob also drove the Mini Coopers. It seems like these cars have become more popular in the states recently. One was also used in a chase in The Bourne Identity.
The acting was all right in The Italian Job, but it wasn’t the greatest. Donald Sutherland’s part was very short. Edward Norton didn’t seem to be in as much as some of the other characters either. This wasn’t his best performance. I’ve really liked him in several movies like Primal Fear, American History X, and The Score, but he wasn’t as good in this one. I’ve heard that he was more or less forced into taking this part because of some kind of contract obligation. Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron were both fine in the movie, though not outstanding. I did really like Seth Green. I think I liked his character and his performance the most.
There were really only a few characters in The Italian Job. There was very little character development for any of them. The movie was more focused on the preparation and implementation of the plan to get the gold. The characters were fairly flat for the most part. With Steve, there really wasn’t much to explain his motivation for what he did.
CHARACTERS
Charlie Croker - He is a thief. He worked with John on many jobs and was now in charge. Charlie was a careful planner and didn’t use guns. He was very hurt when Steve double crossed them and he wanted revenge.
John Bridger - Safe cracker. He violated his parole to do one last job with Charlie. He didn’t have the best relationship with his daughter because he had been in prison for half of her life. He liked Charlie and seemed to have some doubts about things Steve arranged.
Stella Bridger - John’s daughter. She was a safe cracker too, but she wasn’t a thief. She wanted to get revenge for her father’s death. She was good at what she did. She had a few jitters at times, but she got over them.
Rob - He drove the get away vehicles. He also had a way with women.
Lyle - He was a computer expert. He had programs and things on the computer that helped them on jobs. He kept telling people that he really created Napster and that his roommate in college stole the idea.
Left Ear - He was in charge of explosives. He lost the hearing in his right ear when he was young by putting some kind of explosives in a toilet. He had a bad experience with a dog once.
Steve - He double crossed the team and stole the gold. He didn’t even know what he wanted to do with it. He was a cold, calculating person.
I have seen better movies, but The Italian Job was entertaining. It is worth checking out if you are in the mood for a heist movie.
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