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The Italian Job

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The Italian Job (2003)

May. 30,2003
|
7
|
PG-13
| Action Crime
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Charlie Croker pulled off the crime of a lifetime. The one thing that he didn't plan on was being double-crossed. Along with a drop-dead gorgeous safecracker, Croker and his team take off to re-steal the loot and end up in a pulse-pounding, pedal-to-the-metal chase that careens up, down, above and below the streets of Los Angeles.

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Reviews

Plantiana
2003/05/30

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

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Intcatinfo
2003/05/31

A Masterpiece!

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BallWubba
2003/06/01

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

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Curt
2003/06/02

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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raidernation-20472
2003/06/03

The movie is the ultimate Heist movie with everything from the amazing Heist to start the movie off then the heart-wrenching sadness betrayal Redemption this movie definitely has it all with the most stacked cast ever in a movie with Donald Sutherland Mark Wahlberg Edward Norton Charlize Theron Mos Def Jason Statham and Seth Green

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esmorr
2003/06/04

This movie is a typical Hollywood "remake" of a brilliant British original. The story is only vaguely similar to the British one, and this is shown in the use of gold bars as the target of the theft, the three mini's, the chase scene and the traffic jam. Other than that this picture is very far removed from the original Italian Job that has always been one of my favourite classics. The only thing that is really worth watching in this mess is the lovely Charlize Theron and a 10 minute appearance by Donald Sutherland.This picture is not special in any way, and is just yet another one of these modern-day action movies with a bunch of thieves, some high-speed chase scenes, lots of guns and explosions, some boats and some pretty Venecian scenery. It is the sort of thing I might watch only if I get bored with the news and the commercials, the fresh paint on the wall has finished drying, and the grass outside has stopped growing!Hollywood has shown us yet again, as if we needed any more proof, that the Yanks just can't make movies as well as the Poms can. This title was originally a Michael Caine British classic of the theft movie genre with a dash of typically understated British humour, and Benny Hill in an uncharacteristic scientific role. How dare the money-grabbers in Hollywood even think that they can "update" such a classic with a bunch of Yankee actors and some speed boats and still maintain the quality of the original? I do not mean to take anything away from the actors themselves here; they have done the best that they could with what they were given to work with, and stars like Mr Sutherland and Miss Theron were obviously brought in as draw cards to grab the audience. They are not the issue, but it always maddens me when the Hollywood sausage-machine tries to recreate a brilliant original movie which cannot be equalled. They should leave them alone because all that ends up happening is that they reiterate just how good the original is. That is what has happened again here, and so I can only give this movie a 6 and tell you to go and grab the original Italian Job and be properly entertained, and forget this insult!!

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classicalsteve
2003/06/05

Ever since the brilliant remake of "Ocean's Eleven" with Clooney, Damon, Cheadle, et al, heist films have been in vogue. There are about two or three per year since circa 2001, a few have been outstanding, most are about average, and a few are duds. They are entertaining, more or less, but sometimes they rely on too many known plot devices. Some of the exceptional ones include the first "Ocean's Eleven" film (not the Sinatra one), "Inside Man", one of the cleverest of such films, and "The Score" (also with Edward Norton, by the way), which keeps you guessing all the way. (If you want to see a really great heist film set in Victorian England, I suggest "The Great Train Robbery" with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland produced in the 1970's.) Some average but descent fair include "Tower Heist", and "The Art of the Steal". Among the less memorable ones include both of the "Ocean's Eleven" sequels, "Ocean's Twelve" and "Ocean's Thirteen", and the remake of "Fun with Dick and Jane". The present film, "The Italian Job", despite a few nice moments, fits into the middle category of being marginally enjoyable but not great.Mark Wahlberg plays Charlie Croker, an up-and-coming sophisticated thief who uses high tech to achieve his plundering aspirations. His mentor is older thief John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) who helps him plan for a heist to lift $35 million in gold from a safe which happens to be in the hands of the Italian Mafia in Venice, Italy. Like Ocean's Eleven, they use a team of safe-crackers and embezzlers who enact the theft. Everything goes as planned, almost too easy, until after the heist is completed, everything goes wrong.Without giving away what happens exactly, the thieves lose the gold, which is possibly the best part of the film, The film then focuses on about the thieves finding out where the gold resides and how to retrieve it while also getting revenge on those who stole the gold from them which was stolen originally from the Italian Mafia, who also must have stolen it from other people. They also solicit the help of Bridge's daughter, a crackerjack safe-cracker, to lift the gold. The film then uses a lot of Ocean's Eleven-type devices, describing each of the henchmen which will be involved in the heist to retrieve the gold lost from the original heist.While the film has a couple of unexpected twists, particularly at the beginning, unfortunately it lapses back into tried and true formulas. There's lots of the standard car chases, some subplots and a few characters get "offed" for their troubles. Despite the shortcomings, Edward Norton offers a stellar performance in the clothes of one of the most ruthless characters I've ever seen him play. His performance saves the film. At the same time, I felt some of the other characters were rather flat, especially Mark Wahlberg as the Danny Ocean equivalent in "The Italian Job". Sometimes I find Wahlberg just a bit too humourless and rather stiff. Clooney in the first "Oceans" film is always playful with lots of unexpected comic relief. The film in question is a descent effort, but again the script needed more work, and the ending was a bit predictable. I was hoping for a major unexpected twist at the end, but it never happens. The film tries to be another "Ocean's Eleven" using its devices but little of its charm. I guess my expectations are too high.

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CleveMan66
2003/06/06

The faithfulness of re-made films to their original material run the gamut from shot-for-shot remakes, like 1998's "Psycho" (starring then little-known Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche), all the way to movies that bear almost no resemblance to the original except for the title and basic concept, like 2013's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn). 2003's "The Italian Job" is somewhere in the middle, but closer to the latter. This movie is a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine vehicle of the same name, and known as one of Britain's most popular films. The 2003 version is, according to director F. Gary Gray, "an homage" that is "inspired by the original". The remake changes the location of the story's main caper, but keeps the focus on stealing gold bullion. The homage aspect of the remake can be seen in the names of some of the characters (even though their roles in the plot are different), the part of the plan that involves carefully controlling the escape route, the prominent use of the Mini Coopers, an escape through a small tunnel and a dramatic scene in which a vehicle is perched precariously over a large drop. But I'm getting ahead of myself.2003's "The Italian Job" begins with a creative and daring heist of $35 million worth of gold bullion in Venice, Italy. The gang consists of Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg, in the Michael Caine role), Steve (Edward Norton), "Handsome Rob" (Jason Statham), "Napster" (Seth Green), "Left Ear" (Mos Def) and the group's senior member (pulling his final job), John Bridger (Donald Sutherland). After cleverly making off with the gold, the crew is celebrating on a mountain road in the Alps (also a setting from the original film), when John praises Charlie (the group's new leader) for planning the perfect robbery and pulling it off "without even holding a gun." Unfortunately, the group doesn't get much farther than that. One of their own turns on them, leaves them all for dead and makes off with the gold.The story now jumps ahead one year. The original group's traitor is living large in his L.A. mansion, while those he thought were dead are planning to steal back what remains of the gold bars. John's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron), an expert safecracker like her father, joins the gang. They also take on a mechanic named Wrench (Franky G), who the group needs to customize those Mini Coopers that are essential to the plan – and so prominent in the story that Gray referred to them as "part of the cast." After dealing with some unexpected challenges and having to completely change their plan, Charlie and his crew go after the gold in a climax that is even more inventive and exciting than the original robbery in Venice."The Italian Job" is exactly what a movie like this should be – a whole lot of fun! Every cast member is fun and interesting to watch and they have great chemistry between them. The story contains some clichés, but you won't care. The screenplay by Donna and Wayne Powers has some very funny moments amidst all the scheming and double-crossing. Gray balances it all perfectly, makes the whole thing entertaining and what comes out is a "Job" definitely worth having.

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