How do you rate a movie that’s a remake of an older movie? How does one account for originality? Director Peter Collinson’s 1969 vintage version of The Italian Job gets its duly deserved credit for being ’’the original’’. BBC rates this version as ’’an average movie with a great finale’’. But it’s 2003 counterpart with all the pizzazz of a big budget production will definitely knock your socks off. Director Gary Gray (of 2 Fast 2 Furious fame) takes this movie to the next level providing every element of surprise, thrill and over the top action one would expect, without compromising on the fast-paced plot as it were.
The Cast
John Bridger - Donald Sutherland - safe cracking expert
Charlie Croker - Mark Wahlberg - gang mastermind
Steve - Ed Norton - inside man on the heist, and the traitor
Lyle - Seth Green - computer genius
Handsome Rob - Jason Statham - the ... ummm..transporter?
Left-Ear - Mos Def - explosives expert
Stella Bridger - Charlize Theron - junior safe cracking expert and John’s daughter
And now we’re on location in Venice..
Here’s a story about a good old fashioned heist. It all opens up in the waterways of Venice where our gang of very artful theives are plotting to steal gold bricks worth millions of dollars. The heist is executed perfectly and after some stunning waterway chases, the getaway vehicle is ready and waiting for them to make their escape. But the artful theives, despite their perfection didnt count on one possibility. The possibility that one among them would have his own hidden agenda. While the guys are celebrating their new found riches, Steve turns around and goes trigger happy on the rest of his compadres leaving them for dead, so he can keep the gold for himself. The only person who dies in the shootout is the safe cracker John Bridger. Charlie vows to get the gold back and the boys plan to get double-crossing Steve back for what he did.
And now on to LA..
From now on the whole plot is about payback. Steve’s not an easy target. Being a criminal mastermind himself, the gang realizes that it is probably going to take some ingenuity to get the gold back from Steve and give him a taste of his own medicine. So they seek the help of Stella who reluctantly volunteers as the safe cracking expert and the bait to get Steve to talk. (Bit cliched here but in the overall scheme, it sat pretty well) So Steve’s cable mysteriously gets cut off and Stella goes in disguised as the cable girl to plant a camera in Steve’s heavily guarded fortress of a house. Steve takes a fancy for the attractive girl and tries to ask her out to which she agrees just to play him off. But when she gets out of there, Charlie actually wants her to go out on the dinner date (which, she very reluctantly agrees to do given that Steve’s her father’s killer). But during the date, Stella’s cover is blown but Charlie’s there as back up so a few punches are thrown around before Steve makes it out of there.
The story kicks into high gear from here. Steve now knows that he’s in trouble so he decides to get the gold and himself out of LA. But when you’re pitted against a gang of criminal masterminds, one against many is not a very good equation. Steve tries the old decoy tactic where many similar looking trucks leave his house but only one of them has the gold. A good one for the untrained eye but our boys are just too good to fall for it. Charlie has everyone charged up for the payback caper and they just cannot drop the ball. So with the help of Handsome Rob’s buddy, they soup up a bunch of Mini Coopers (by the way this movie has probably got the car selling like hot cakes) and test run them so they play the role of the getaway cars. Meanwhile Lyle takes on the responsibility of making all the traffic lights in LA change at his whim using a laptop in the baggage claim area of the airport (How’s that for hi-tech?). The whole idea is to create a diversion so the truck carrying the gold is manouevered exactly where they want it so they can take possession of it. Though Steve’s got a watchful eye on his truck of gold, the rest of the gang are just too clever at what they do. In the split second that Steve loses sight of his truck, it’s gone. And the gold switches hands. Though Steve desperately tries to get it back, it’s too late. There is a face off at the end but Steve knows he’s done for. And in a well timed turn of events, Stella gets the last punch square on Steve’s jaw before he gets carted off. Attagirl!
How well was the job done?
Pretty well done I must admit. In CGI crazy Hollywood, this movie comes in with a breath of fresh air and pretty much relies on the basics of good filmmaking to deploy this fast paced storyline into a slick action movie that holds its own without relying on eye-popping graphic wizardry. The contemporary humor that is interjected into it is well timed and complements the personalities of each of the characters. I especially like the part where Lyle rants about how his roommate stole the whole Napster idea from him - I thought that was classic. Also the personality clashes are surprisingly minimal. Ed Norton does his sleazeball routine to perfection - he is probably the most underrated actor in the cast - a guy with amazing potential. Jason Statham’s the quintessential transporter - I don’t know what it is with having him play roles where he drives like a roving maniac. Nevertheless this Aussie’s testosterone-driven demeanor and his penchant for fast cars certainly rakes up brownie points in the action department. Seth Green as the geeky computer expert is fun, he is a good off-the-cuff kind of comedian and the laughs are subtle and well timed. Mos Def as the deaf-on-one-ear black guy also gets some punch lines to his credit - I’d hate to term him the token black guy because his role is a pretty pivotal one - but in more ways than one, he does unfortunately end up being just that - the token black guy. Mark Wahlberg does a good job in his role but does not hog the limelight. No points for guessing who does though. The ’’Charlize Theron in a Mini Cooper’’ visual is mostly likely to be elected as the image that you would end up going home with after watching this movie.