Sarcasm aside, this may actually be the best Jim Belushi film of all time, but most importantly this is not the 'best James Caan film of all time'. Though it is through no fault of the performance by James Caan that this movie suffers. His performance is very good, but simply stated; James Caan cannot carry a movie all by himself. For example, in the tearjerker 'Brian's Song' he had Billie Dee Williams and an amazing musical score to help carry the weight, in 'Misery' he could only sit, watch and grimace as Kathy Bates plowed through each scene, stealing scene after scene. Even in 'Rollerball', I would say that the futuristic costumes and cutting edge violence in the film made the film a popular hit in its day, not by any great performance by Caan. Unfortunately, in 'Thief' James Caan has Jim Belushi and a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.
Why did Michael Mann cast the 'Belush'? Did he think that Jim's star was on the rise? Or was he hoping that Jim could channel some of the John's magic?
In any case, these are the two main points of how 'Thief' fails to deliver. 1) Having Jim Belushi as a principal star in the movie and 2) using Tangerine Dream for its soundtrack, a soundtrack that is so loud and domineering that it all but drowns out almost every scene it's used in. The music by itself is fine, I guess. It just feels terribly inappropriate for the movie. The jewel heist that Frank (James Caan) and Barry (The Belush) carry out for Leo (Robert Prosky) could have been as great as the heists pulled off in 'Rififi' or 'Le Cercle Rouge', but nooooooooo, they had to use KORG synthesizers!!!!
Caan does receive some help from a good, yet underused supporting cast, most notably from his wife Jessie (Tuesday Weld) and best friend Okla (Willie Nelson) who is terribly underused, and from Leo the mob boss (Robert Prosky).
One of the standout scenes in the film occurs when Frank brings Jessie to a diner and spills to her the secret of his profession. Once Frank sees that Jessie doesn't back away from this information, he then proposes they get married. When Jessie seems unsure of the proposal, Frank puts his proposal into perspective, "What are you doing in your life that is so terrific".
Another good scene takes place in an adoption agency where Frank and Jessie are turned down in their bid for a baby. Not only are they denied the chance for a baby, but also the adoption agent makes the mistake of talking down to Frank. Frank becomes verbally abusive back to the agent in spades. By the end of the scene Frank has let everyone in the agency hear about his dissatisfaction with the adoption process and its people and eventually goes so far as to get in the face of the security guard who escorts him out.
Willie Nelson's performance as Franks best friend Okla was underused and should have been in the movie more. When Frank visits Okla at the prison, Okla pleads to Frank to get him an early release. Okla understands that with his 'Angina, or something', he will die in prison and that isn't the way he wants to go. This scene, although no longer than a couple of minutes, is the most touching scene in the movie. I was blown away by Willie Nelson's performance. The scene left me hoping for more from Willie. Unfortunately, Willie only had one more scene in the movie and that scene is a lame deathbed scene. Too bad.
Leo the mob boss was good, although it was hard for me to believe he was as tough and respected as his character seemed to be. He just looked kind of creepy, like the guy who hangs out at the library everyday reading all of the newspapers. But I liked his character because he was responsible for killing Jim Belushi's character.
But overall, this movie is just a disappointing variation on a typical heist movie, sprinkled with many good moments by its chief performers before succumbing to your standard 'guns a blazing' clichéd ending. This cheap ending also denigrates from the overall potential of the film, I really did want it to be better. By the end of it all, Frank takes a little bit of lead, but in the process he gets to blow up his house, a bar, his used car lot, but most important of all, he also gets to kill off anyone (except the adoption agency) who has wronged him in the movie. In fact, the last image we see is of Frank walking away along an empty street where the bloody massacre has just taken place. As the credits start to roll we may think to ourselves: is Frank on his way to the adoption agency to settle one more score? Or we may wonder: how is it possible that with so many shots fired and so many dead bodies lying in the street and on the neatly cut lawns of the neighbors next door, that no police have yet to show up, no dogs are barking, in fact, not one neighbor has even peeped a look out to see from a window? With all of those loud gunshots, they most certainly would have heard it. Well, perhaps not, the Tangerine Dream soundtrack was pretty loud.
6/10.
Clark Richards
Why did Michael Mann cast the 'Belush'? Did he think that Jim's star was on the rise? Or was he hoping that Jim could channel some of the John's magic?
In any case, these are the two main points of how 'Thief' fails to deliver. 1) Having Jim Belushi as a principal star in the movie and 2) using Tangerine Dream for its soundtrack, a soundtrack that is so loud and domineering that it all but drowns out almost every scene it's used in. The music by itself is fine, I guess. It just feels terribly inappropriate for the movie. The jewel heist that Frank (James Caan) and Barry (The Belush) carry out for Leo (Robert Prosky) could have been as great as the heists pulled off in 'Rififi' or 'Le Cercle Rouge', but nooooooooo, they had to use KORG synthesizers!!!!
Caan does receive some help from a good, yet underused supporting cast, most notably from his wife Jessie (Tuesday Weld) and best friend Okla (Willie Nelson) who is terribly underused, and from Leo the mob boss (Robert Prosky).
One of the standout scenes in the film occurs when Frank brings Jessie to a diner and spills to her the secret of his profession. Once Frank sees that Jessie doesn't back away from this information, he then proposes they get married. When Jessie seems unsure of the proposal, Frank puts his proposal into perspective, "What are you doing in your life that is so terrific".
Another good scene takes place in an adoption agency where Frank and Jessie are turned down in their bid for a baby. Not only are they denied the chance for a baby, but also the adoption agent makes the mistake of talking down to Frank. Frank becomes verbally abusive back to the agent in spades. By the end of the scene Frank has let everyone in the agency hear about his dissatisfaction with the adoption process and its people and eventually goes so far as to get in the face of the security guard who escorts him out.
Willie Nelson's performance as Franks best friend Okla was underused and should have been in the movie more. When Frank visits Okla at the prison, Okla pleads to Frank to get him an early release. Okla understands that with his 'Angina, or something', he will die in prison and that isn't the way he wants to go. This scene, although no longer than a couple of minutes, is the most touching scene in the movie. I was blown away by Willie Nelson's performance. The scene left me hoping for more from Willie. Unfortunately, Willie only had one more scene in the movie and that scene is a lame deathbed scene. Too bad.
Leo the mob boss was good, although it was hard for me to believe he was as tough and respected as his character seemed to be. He just looked kind of creepy, like the guy who hangs out at the library everyday reading all of the newspapers. But I liked his character because he was responsible for killing Jim Belushi's character.
But overall, this movie is just a disappointing variation on a typical heist movie, sprinkled with many good moments by its chief performers before succumbing to your standard 'guns a blazing' clichéd ending. This cheap ending also denigrates from the overall potential of the film, I really did want it to be better. By the end of it all, Frank takes a little bit of lead, but in the process he gets to blow up his house, a bar, his used car lot, but most important of all, he also gets to kill off anyone (except the adoption agency) who has wronged him in the movie. In fact, the last image we see is of Frank walking away along an empty street where the bloody massacre has just taken place. As the credits start to roll we may think to ourselves: is Frank on his way to the adoption agency to settle one more score? Or we may wonder: how is it possible that with so many shots fired and so many dead bodies lying in the street and on the neatly cut lawns of the neighbors next door, that no police have yet to show up, no dogs are barking, in fact, not one neighbor has even peeped a look out to see from a window? With all of those loud gunshots, they most certainly would have heard it. Well, perhaps not, the Tangerine Dream soundtrack was pretty loud.
6/10.
Clark Richards