Good movie, but one of Norton's lesser roles.=

Rating: 7/10 (25 August 2003)

The Italian Job: 6.5/10
Although the concept of "The Italian Job" only appealed to me mildly, the inclusion of one of my favourite actors, Edward Norton, made me decide to check it out. I was reluctant even with Norton involved, as he was forced to take this role to break out of a contract. The plot is based around a theft in Venice that goes perfectly, only for one of the team members (Norton) to betray the others, killing the mentor of the lead character (played by Mark Wahlberg). Said mentor just happened to be Donald Sutherland, who was excellent and underused in the movie. The movie followed a basic plot of revenge, and was fun to watch, if not perfect. Charlize Theron was very good as the daughter of Sutherland's character, who hesitantly joins the team for revenge on Norton's character. However, Mark Wahlberg is a very "blah" actor, who often fails to distinguish himself and make himself worthy of a leading role. Although he wasn't bad, I felt that many others could have worked the role better. Now as for Norton's role, it was one of his worst ever. It was very run-of-the-mill by Norton, who didn't work too well as the main villain, although had his moments. Many of the things that make Norton such a great actor were missing, and you could tell this wasn't exactly a role he wanted. Overall, a good movie that is worth watching once, maybe twice for the awesome heist at the start, that is worked so well.