No honor amongst thieves

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2007)

For the most part, I hate thieves. Yet it amazes me how Hollywood can get me to appreciate the skill involved in stealing, even if for a couple of hours. Movies such as "The Heist", "Ocean's Eleven", and "The Italian Job" are just the movies to make me forget about my despise for thieves.
Edward Norton plays the familiar weasel role that he played in another burglary movie, "The Score", with Robert DeNiro. In this movie he plays Steve, a member of a gang of master thieves led by John Bridger (Donald Sutherland). After the gang successfully lifts untold millions in gold from Italy, Steve double crosses them all and takes the gold for himself.
What makes a movie about stealing good is the creativity that the thieves use in stealing. Even though they are committing a crime, there is a certain level of appreciation for a person doing a craft well. "The Italian Job" was about innovative ways to do the impossible, much like the other theft movies I mentioned. The acting was acceptable from Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Mos Def, and the others, but the focus was never on the actors. All of the movie's stock was in the scheme. The scheme for the embittered gang to take back what was theirs.