"Italian Job" nails down all the elements of a fun, modern heist film

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2008)

"The Italian Job" is a great getaway film and we're not just talking about robbery getaways. This movie never bores and is solely focused on action, technology and crime strategy lore, moving along at a brisk pace and giving the bare amount of drama to provide fuel for its characters and story line. It's a 110 minute vacation that has all its bases covered, delivering a smooth ride with little to no chinks. While it may be a remake that doesn't really improve on the original, it successfully defines itself in a modern context as a fun heist flick.
The film takes us straight to Italy for a job being done by well-acquainted accomplices. There's the mastermind John (Donald Sutherland), his protégé Charlie (Mark Wahlberg), the odd explosives expert named Left Ear (Mos Def), the trying-to-be-cool hacker (Seth Green), the lady's man driving expert Handsome Rob (Jason Statham) and the inside guy (Edward Norton). This is a pretty good ensemble with a wide array of talents. Wahlberg doesn't carry this film and that's how it should be. It's a very "Ocean's Eleven" style formula, but director F. Gary Gray gives this film its own more relaxed vibe, limiting the comparisons.
The job is successful, but after the getaway, Norton's character goes rogue and takes the loot for himself. He retreats to California and the guys plan to get it back, with the help of Charlize Theron. The rest of the film they devise their plans and execute them, with the script incorporating character development into those scenes. Still, it's not particularly dialogue heavy and no moments ever lag.
This is not a very flashy heist film like "Ocean's Eleven." The action and car chases are much more subdued, with little gunfire and no extravagant crashes or explosions. It's not going to wow you, unless you're a 30-year-old single woman who loves Mini Coopers, but it's definitely creative. The elements of the heist will interest you if you're into that whole crime strategy stuff, though there's no unforeseeable twists. Best of all, the drama is minimal and not distracting from the film's objective of pure entertainment.
So "Italian Job" doesn't exactly raise the bar with action/heist films, but it understands the genre and knows how to deliver it the right way, providing exactly the kind of entertainment one would expect watching this kind of film.