Jewelry heist gone wrong...

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2011)

There could be a big payoff for a group of criminals that are brought together by crime boss Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) to pull off a jewelry heist. This movie combines the elements of violent mob antics with the conflict of trust and deception. The crime boss is acquainted with all six men recruited for the heist job. To help conceal their identities, he requires the men not to reveal any personal information with each other and assigns them names of color.
The story begins in the middle which appears to be a friendly group of mobsters hanging out like your typical scene in heist movie Ocean Eleven. The viewer is brought up to speed through the movies flashback editorial cutting and realizes there is not the same camaraderie among these men. They are reluctant to place trust in each other even though the heist plan seems to have no faults.
The men's fear of deception is validated when the plans go wrong and the jewelry heist becomes a shootout. The jewelry store was ambushed by the police leading the men to believe that one of them is a rat. Although most of the violent action is off screen in this part of the movie, the dialog guides the viewer.
At the warehouse rendezvous the men are conflicted and the paranoia is heightened as they begin speculating who is to blame and who they can trust. The movie continues to flashback revealing to the audience the truth. The intense dialog, the scene setting and the crude violence at the warehouse allows the audience to better understand the characters position on the failed heist.
Notorious in most mobster movies, extreme acts of violence occur while attempting to discover the rat among them. This movie is graphic in filming the horrific torture scene which captures the ruthless behavior of the character Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) and the massive amount of blood lost by his victim as well as the blood pool spilling around wounded Mr. Orange (Tim Roth). If you're a viewer with a weak stomach it may be too much to view.
In the scenes of Mr.White (Harvey Keitel) in the warehouse it is conveyed through close ups and dialog that he is conflicted with following his gut instinct to help the wounded Mr. Orange or face the possible consequences. Although as a viewer you know the truth but find yourself hoping for the best.