A $10 Heist - FYI: possible spoilers

Rating: 5/10 (30 May 2003)

There's nothing like a heist film. The gadgets are cool. The stakes are high. Everybody is a snappy dresser. And the thieves are eminently likeable characters exhibiting Zen calm or comedic sarcasm toward their tense profession. If you've come to play, The Italian Job, a remake of the 1969 film by the same name staring Michael Caine, will be a good time. However, if you're looking for the surprise movie to upset the summer clogged with superheroes or make a timeless entry in the crime catalogue, you won't quite find your contender here.
Starting out in Venice, the characters are introduced as they boost $35 million in gold bars from some rather ugly and shady characters guarding a safe in a smoke-filled apartment. It's just enough exposition to let you know who everyone is and that the thieves function as more of a well-bonded fraternity than a group of criminals. John (Donald Sutherland) is father to Stella (Charlize Theron) and plays master-heistman and father figure to Charlie (Mark Wahlberg) just long enough for Steve (Edward Norton, who is rumored to be part of the cast only under the duress of a lingering studio contract) to betray the group - setting up everyone's motivation for the remainder of the film.
Burning through a cliché-riddled script is often the task at hand for summer movie fare, and the cast is largely up to the challenge. Ed Norton goes for the throat in a Snidely Whiplash mustache and goatee making Steve remorseless in his pursuit of luxury. Charlize Theron is the film's most compelling character who has the greatest motivation for revenge, but not convinced that the second heist attempt is the best way to go about putting her personal tragedy behind her. She also takes flat lines that could come from any action film and does her best to make her Stella stand out. Mos Def, and Franky G have fun breathing brains into their back-up muscle. Jason Stratham has the best career move here as Handsome Rob, the getaway driver and smooth-talker. Every time Seth Green comes on screen, you're just waiting to see how he'll steal the scene with a flourish of his jaded GenX programmer's pent up itch for attention.
The weak part of the group is Wahlberg. It isn't that he fails to fill the leading man role with a wild twinkle in his eye and provide a protagonist for the audience to jump into the ride with. There just isn't enough for him to distinguish this Charlie from a plethora of other leading heist men. He's the guy who's going to get the girl. You are certain of it. From the moment John mentions his daughter and all his regrets, you are positive that he isn't going to make it out of the first act alive and that Charlie will be carrying his professional and personal torches the rest of the way. The script just doesn't make out the specifics, and Wahlberg lacks the unspoken charisma that made George Clooney's con man in "Ocean's Eleven" both likeable and distinct among movie heroes.
The script shows its seams most during the second act when the characters are supposed to be driving the story. The suspension of disbelief has kicked in enough to let the audience hang in until the 3rd act heist, which is really what everyone came for. Director F. Gary Gray takes the opportunity to make one of the most memorable moments in his movie a quiet one of suspense that interrupts the heist and challenges Stella in particular.

Then it is off and running and a solidly fashioned and special-effect-free race through the streets, subways and reservoirs of Los Angeles. Without giving things away, it is a romp that makes the city of LA more of a character than it usually is by making traffic a real factor in the theft and ensuing chase. There is something about the danger of genuinely crafted stunts that makes the expected face-off between the thieves and Steve more satisfying than it has a right to be
So if you like the thrill of a con game or a good chase, go for the ride but if you're in it for character, take your friends because they will be the ones who will provide the evening's best conversation.
A 5 out of 10 from this movie-goer.