Exceeded expectations

Rating: 6/10 (31 December 2003)

"Italian Job" is a slickly made heist movie that exceeds expectations with its cleverness.
The movie contains a well-proportioned amount of action and comedy. It is almost self-aware that it is a remake, but doesn't worry because it knows it has a killer cast with some strongly conceived action scenes and decent dialogue to drive along the witty plot.
Edward Norton adds a lot to the entertainment with an oddly mixed muted yet over the top performance, while Mark Whalberg and the rest of the men in the gang fill out the movie nicely. In alot of action movies, these "gangs" don't work, but each actor in "Italian Job" performs their purpose well. Charlize Theron stands out as the daughter of Donald Sutherland, in an excellent casting choice.
Director F. Gary Gray knows exactly what he's doing, and in many ways, this is the movie that Bruckheimer's "Gone In 60 Seconds" remake should have been.
The verdict: a Hollywood heist movie the way it should be done.