The Good Thief

Plot synopsis:
The film is about an aging thief, gambler, and drug user Bob (Nick Nolte) who is down on his luck. He has a chance to change his luck by robbing a casino in the French Riviera. However, what Bob doesn't know is that someone has tipped the police of the heist. The policeman, Roger (Tcheky Karyo) who has a friendship with Bob, begins to watch him knowing that he will eventually have to arrest Bob for this crime. To get ready for the heist, Bob quits taking drugs cold turkey. Bob gets Roger to drive him to an addiction meeting and tries to get Roger to admit that he is an addict too. Bob goes into the meeting and goes out the back door. Bob's part in the heist is to gamble at the casino and keep the police focused on him while the team does the job. With Anne (Nutsa Kukhianidze) and great style, Bob wins big. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

Tags: murder, storytelling

Review:
The requisite drying-out scenes, where Bob handcuffs himself to the bed and rejects Anne's offer of sexual freedom, are effective realism in an otherwise stylish film that eschews clarity and ingenuity in favor of some character development and much atmosphere.The scenes at the casino are smoother than "Casablanca's," slicker than James Bond's, and lighter than "Croupier's."  When Bob and Anne begin their end of the elaborate heist by challenging the house odds, there is little to worry about their losing but much about the philosophy of gambling, of going all the way regardless of the outcome.
"The Good Thief " is a classier one-last-great-heist film than "Ocean's 11," in a more exotic Riviera locale with grittier repartee and well-worn actors with many different accents.
Based on a 1955 French film I haven't seen, "Bob le flambeur," I don't know how much Neil Jordan changed from the original.
A heist movie that oozes style, particularly in the form of Nick Nolte, gangster, part-time heroin addict (he handcuffs himself to the bed to go cold turkey before a job) and good guy.
THE GOOD THIEF (3+ outta 5 stars)Very good character study/caper film about a drug-addicted American criminal (Nick Nolte) in France who straightens himself out for one more Big Score.
Set on the scenic French Riviera, Neil Jordan's `The Good Thief' is a remake of 1955's `Bob Le Flambeur,' a Gallic film that enjoyed a successful re-release in this country a few years back.
Even the one native English speaker, Nolte, is difficult to comprehend at times, but that's just because Nolte is simply being Nolte and we expect to miss half of what he is saying anyway.Apart from that, `The Good Thief,' less polished and slick than movies like "Ocean's Eleven," offers top-notch entertainment for the hardcore heist film aficionado..
Neil Jordan rectifies that problem beautifully; Nick Nolte is absolutely the perfect choice to play Bob Montagné.Bob le Flambeur also has a very peculiar loping pace, which adds to its charm, but works against its logic.
Nick Nolte does an excellent job in the role of a middle aged gambler, heister and drug addict who plans a robbery of valuable pictures in a casino in the south of France despite the fact that he is being watched by the police.
More than a heist film, with an interesting young cast and a terrific conclusion at the gambling tables, with Nick Nolte playing a heroin addicted compulsive gambler and all around nice guy who goes cold turkey in order to get in shape for the heist of a super swank Monte Carlo casino vault and priceless paintings.
As his longtime cop friend says, "Everybody likes Bob, that is the problem!".The heist is really a question of whether this group of men's unusual dignity, intelligence, and ability will be victorious over the Establishment in which people never do more then live half lives; i.e., unlike what makes the main characters appealing.
As I haven't seem the original "Bob le Flambeur" I'm not in a position to compare the two versions.In the right hands this could have a been a good (possibly great) film.
If one can get over the accent problem, then there is the sound track of this film, which was so hard to hear at all, at least in the theater where I saw it, that you have a double hurdle to get over.Nick Nolte with his hair dyed a carrot hue looks hideous; he probably was going through a bad period when he made this movie.
Along for the ride with a weathered thief/drug addict/bon vivant named Bob (Nick Nolte) is a motley crew of characters with varying degrees of fashionable zaniness.
Yet although 'The Good Thief' does not exactly set new standards in originality, it has certain merits that set it above the average film of it's type: the complex plot, a certain skill in invoking the mood of the underbelly of France (even if all the dialogue is spoken in English); and Nick Nolte's unique ability to convey a sense of ruination.
Offsetting this, Nutsa Kukshianidge' female lead is very pretty but I found her acting unconvincing; at times the story appears to be trying too hard; and director Neil Jordan certainly is, with his busy style and some off-putting habits (in this film, he peculiarly ends each scene with a freeze-frame, which adds nothing to the movie save annoyance).
This is the best Nick Nolte film I've seen.Neil Jordan's direction pulls you into a world of sleaze, drugs and gambling, with such ease.Their world becomes real.
With exceptional music, lighting and editing and with every member of the cast, right for their role.This is cinema at it's best.The story takes us through a world most of us have no idea of.The actors portray characters with great passion causing you believe in them and you feel for Nolte with his cold-turkey scenes and rejection by life.This is how to tell a story with subplots and minor characters creating misleading avenues.All scriptwriters should watch this film, it is a prefect film to learn from.
Hot on the heels of Steven Soderbergh's 2001 Ocean's Eleven remake comes Neil Jordan's The Good Thief; a colourful, extravagant film about some pretty desperate people inhabiting a grimy world of strippers, drug addicts and gangsters unsure of whether to keep on the straight and narrow and depict it as all fun and frolics, or as a depiction of a disgraceful; disgusting underbelly to a photogenic locale that everybody needs to wake up to.
Here, varying scenes of planning and such are stretched out to an overly long, and often uninteresting, degree which is dressed up with some cool lighting and some Heat-esque musical tones not only calling to mind Michael Mann's film but making you wish you were watching the damned thing instead.To carry out the heist, Bob must kick his drug-habit, but this is only the first of his problems as Saïd Taghmaoui's Arab Paulo looks to grass him in if it means saving his own skin while plain-suited police officer Roger (Karyo) is constantly watching his old rival with the intent to arrest him if needs be.
Neil Jordan's terrific heist movie breaks the cardinal rule that remakes can never be in the same class as the original and if this doesn't have the same emotional pull of Melville's "Bob Le Flambeur" at least it often feels as if it's in the same ballpark.
Jordan is obviously in thrall to the original but not so much he can't keep his version sufficiently loose, (although the film is so tortuously plotted a knowledge of Melville's movie certainly helps).Nick Nolte is brilliant as Bob, the gambler, junkie and former thief on his last heist and the supporting cast of largely European actors match him every step of the way.
Neil Jordan's ambitious remake of the French noir Jean-Pierre Melville's 1955 Bob le Flambeur shrewdly casts Nolte (in one of his best performances) as an American junkie/thief in semi-retirement who plans a final score in the glitzy Monte Carlo casino stashing some pricy art works and risk taking with a young prostitute (Kukhianidze).
As good as the final thirty minutes were, it could never make up for the excruciating boredom the film had subjected viewers to for the previous (what seemed like 5 hours)hour and a half.Not even Noltes' performance or Bonos' rendition of "thats life" could hold together this painfully slow and obvious plot.
Character development ranges from poor to non-existent .As opposed to enjoying the film you end up wondering how actors such as Nick Nolte, Tchéky Karyo, Saïd Taghmaoui and Ralph Fiennes accepted the script.
A remake of French film Bob le flambeur, it stars Nick Nolte, Emir Kusturica, Nutsa Kukhianidze, Tcheky Karyo and Said Taghmaoui.
Music is scored by Elliot Goldenthal and cinematography by Chris Menges.Bob Montagnet (Nolte) is slipping further down the ladder of hope, addicted to drugs and gambling he allows himself a shot at glory by taking part in one last intricate heist....The heist at the heart of The Good Thief is pretty much playing second fiddle to the characters involved with said heist on each side of the law.
**SPOILERS** Glossy and engaging crime caper having to do with the rip off of the Monte Carlo Casino by a gang of rag tag crooks, with a computer security expert thrown in,led by the recovered heroin addict and alcoholic Bob Mortagnet, Nick Nolte.Living off the kindness, pimps hookers tourists and degenerate gamblers, of others for years in the run down section of Nice France Bob Mortagent is now at rock bottom.
This action on his part will provide Bob with an air tight alibi in not participating in the robbery.Far too complicated to go into details, without giving away the very clever surprise ending, "the Good Thief" has Bob pull off a real double whammy to the surprise of everybody watching, as well as in, the movie.
In an amazing final sequence the twins not only had Bob, together with Anne, pull off the crime of the century but have in done with a double indemnity clause tacked on to it as well!P.S The song "A Thousand Kisses Deep" on the movie's soundtrack had me at first think that it was sung by non-other then it's foghorn voiced star Nick Nolte.
I think this is a good film, with an excellent performance from nick nolte.He is a natural in the part, and the other characters are reasonable.
The ambiance is spot on, due to the good musical choice and romantic setting of the french Riveira.However,the let down is the lack of a clear storyline, and the characters were not particularly portrayed in any depth.The DVD of this film has annoying interruptions,which could be mistaken for a fault.The story is a bit of a European oceans 11 but i think the film carries itself in its own way.Intelligently made, Tcheky karyo and Nutsa kukhandize put in good performances.
The atmosphere of seedy bars and back alleys of some small town in the South of France is effective.I thought Nick Nolte did a great job of Bob's character, all very convincing.
Nutsa Kukhianidze played the character very "flat" which seemed to suit, because no matter what she was doing the expression on her face seemed to stay the same, about the only time she showed any emotion was when they won for the 1st time on the roulette table and Nick's character told her to tone it down.So we have a small time Gambler/Heroin addict offered a job to steal some very valuable paintings from a Monte Carlo casino, which just seems minutes away from this small South of France town setting.
But while all this is going on Bob and Anne are winning big on the Roulette table and the Blackjack table.............You'll have to see the movie for the rest, suffice to say, I liked this movie, a lil' bit of the movie must have been left on the cutting room floor as the end may have been better handled, as I had to come into the movie data to try and grasp a few things I didn't quite understand as how did the twins fit in, but it sort of falls into place.
I wish THE GOOD THIEF was something special, but it's a disappointment, unfortunately; I wish I could articulate why, but I don't really know how to approach the act of committing my thoughts about it in words.Ever see a movie that's just barely better than average that you wished you liked more, but can't?
But I eventually accepted this, like I accepted the fact that everyone in a movie set in Monte Carlo speaks English at all times (except for a brief scene early on where a character from Algeria needs to not be understood for the sake of the story).But Nolte's performance was, all in all, a strong center to a slew of supporting characters, one of which was inhabited by newcomer Nino Kukhanidze.
Her performance recalls the earlier work of Chloë Sevigny, and I'm interested in seeing her develop as an actress.Other supporting actors include Saïd Taghmaoui (best known to American audiences, perhaps, as the Iraqi captain in THREE KINGS that holds Mark Wahlberg captive), Mark & Michael Polish (the stars of TWIN FALLS IDAHO, who in this movie are integral to much of the intricate heist plot), and, most bizarrely, an actor (whose name I can't recall) who plays a transsexual bodybuilder, and who can be credited for much of the movie's humor.Many of these characters are quite interesting but aren't developed enough to be truly memorable.
Something about gambling as an alibi while a gas main is or isn't supposed to explode at the right time, while the main guy (Nolte), whose gambling addiction comes in handy, is being tailed by a detective who almost knows what's going on.Have I made THE GOOD THIEF sound like a confusing jumble of half-baked ideas?
However, if the plot was sufficiently meaningless, perhaps muddied dialog is just what the doctor ordered.And what about that old lead character (Nick Nolte) who plays a guy his age (in his 60's) who ends up with the adoration of the 17 y/o beauty?
I had no interest in any of the characters, the filming was loaded with cliches (a casino in monte carlo?), and Nick Nolte mumbled his way through the entire movie, looking more like the elephant man than anything else.
Now I'd like to see the original French film Bob the Gambler to see if they did a better job that time.
But if you like an independent feel and enjoy dissecting characters who you can't really understand, then The Good Thief is probably the movie for you.
Jordan has in fact made a very stylish but emotionally hollow film with frustrating plot holes and a 'twist' (and I use the word 'twist' very loosely, I saw it coming a mile off) ending which is likely to leave audiences baffled and cheated.The film centers around Bob(Nick Nolte) a has-been thief and heroin addict who, bizarrely, is loved by everyone.
However all is about to change when he befriends a 17 year old prostitute and rescues her from an abusive pimp, as soon he has chained himself to his bed in order to go cold turkey and has begun to plot an elaborate (and utterly ridiculous) painting theft with a large group of shady misfits.Sadly all the plot potential is squandered, as Jordan opts instead for a sleek cruise through the nightclubs, brothels and dark alley ways of Monte Carlo, paying virtually no attention to the characters and employing an extremely distracting method of editing; as the camera pauses in freeze-frame for a split second as a scene ends.
Just saw this movie this eve,04/16.Wow.Plan to tell my friends to go see it.Simple heist plot given the right new life by Nick Nolte and the rest of the cast.Nick Nolte's face looks like he's lived the life of the character Bob Montagnet,a gambler and a thief.And newcomer Nutsa is great, someone to watch for in upcoming movies.My wife liked it too,as it is a good blend of action,romance and humor.
Throw in a street smart waif, a couple vengeance clichees,  a convoluted plan and the necessary Judas for a little cross/doublecross and things start to get interesting.Years of substance abuse, a recent run of bad luck and a voice that sounds like he's got the world's longest running case of strep throat may not be in Nick Nolte's best interests as a person.
Bob gets clean to plan the job but this proves the least of his challenges as police officer Roger peruses him.It took me a bit of time to get my head around the rather strange mash of American heist movie and European atmosphere; in fact at the start the film moves with a crawl that is similar to the manner of the knackered main character.
I do understand why mainstream audiences struggled with the performances because the accents are all pretty thick and, combined with Nolte's muttering delivery it is regularly hard to catch what is being said.It is a genre film of course but fans of heist movies might find it a little slower and less obvious than they are used to.
And of course, the smooth-talking wise-cracking American thief that Nolte plays is straight out of a film noir '40s or '50s script, except he's in colour.I normally like Neil Jordan but this effort is intellectually lazy.
Nick Nolte admitted at the Toronto Film Festival that he used a little bit of heroin every day to prepare for his role of Bob in The Good Thief.
It's hard to keep track of, and Nolte's mumbling voice doesn't help.Another aspect of The Good Thief that I found nauseating (literally) was director Neil Jordan's way of ending scenes with a freeze-frame.
I don't particularly like their styles; they always seem to use odd camera shots and even odder ways of ending scenes.Don't go into The Good Thief expecting an ordinary, Hollywood heist movie.
This film grated on my every last nerve, and I was disappointed because I like heist movies and I like Nick Nolte.
A thief, herione addict and Good Samaritan is an interesting combination of traits all in one character (played by Nick Nolte).
Neil Jordan's The Good Thief (UK, 2002) is a hyper-stylized and passionate riff on a seminal heist film – Bob Le flambeur (Jean- Pierre Melville, France, 1956).
The film stars Nick Nolte as Bob, an ex convict, addict, thief and full time drunk.
The film is about an aging thief, gambler, and drug user Bob (Nick Nolte) who is down on his luck.
Story takes place in the south of France where an aging thief named Bob (Nick Nolte) drinks, gambles and is addicted to heroin.
Along with a good performance by Kukhianidze and Jordan's wonderful direction this works both as a heist film and a fascinating character study..