Review of Good Thief, The

Introduction

Heists, deceit and lies have been in vogue for a little while now with films trying to cleverly outdo each other with their methods and witty repartee while trying hard not to be the same. The Good Thief features a heist but is not just a film about the robbery of a priceless art collection. It focuses on a bit of character and story amid the high jinx and double crosses.

Written and directed by Neil Jordan (Mona Lisa, The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire to name but a few), The Good Thief is based on Jean-Pierre Melville`s Bob Le Flambeur (1955) which features Nick Nolte in the lead. Nolte sets up the robbery after a friend suggests/tempts him with the idea of stealing the art collection at the Casino Riviera . Nolte`s a degenerative junkie gambler these days but you can still see the faintest of sparkles in this old art thief`s blue eyes. The thought of one more score...

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced transfer, The Good Thief does indeed look good. The quality of this 2002 film is evident throughout with its strong colours and a high amount of detail. The European locations give the film a natural sense of style and stimulate interest too as we`re never dulled into the repetitive sense of over used American cities.

Audio

A Dolby Digital 5.1 serves the film well throughout when it comes to the music with nice ambient use of the surrounds during the film. When the music plays it`s good and evokes a European flavour with a well-balanced dialogue track coming from the centre. Sometimes though it can be hard to hear Nolte`s low rumbles so thankfully subtitles are available.

Features

Static easy to navigate menus with a few extras:

• Director`s Commentary - The only good extra on this disc is the commentary track. As writer and director Jordan provides a useful insightful into the film which I enjoyed listening to.

• Trailer (2:14) - As usual these days, don`t watch the trailer if you haven`t already seen the film.

• Making of The Good Thief (5:56) - Entitled, "To Film A Thief", this is the short PR thing, and it`s such a shame to treat a nice film like this with utter crap supplements.

• Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary) - There are seven deleted scenes adding up to around 4-minutes. The scenes themselves are quite short and don`t add anything to the film itself so it`s easy to see why these were cut. Jordan`s commentary makes sense of the scenes but the short nature of the clips and no `play all` irked my lazy thumb.

The film has English subtitles and comes packaged in a standard DVD keep case.

Conclusion

There`s no place like Monaco with its feeling of wealth, luxury and tax evaders. A film with this backdrop has to exude style and The Good Thief has a big bucket full of this. This is an interesting film in that with the exception of Nolte, the entire cast is European. Blend in a few Euro beats and this rounds off a good-looking, yet distinctively Continental film. While the story of a casino heist might make you think of Ocean`s Eleven, this film is different enough in its ensemble and execution that makes it noticed on its own merits. The setting is pretty much the haunts of the small time criminal in seedy looking bars and clubs while in Nice and the uber rich in Monte Carlo. The contrast between the two is evident and it`s enjoyable to see the settings and what takes place.

Story aside, it`s a few of the characters that Jordan paints here that stick out quite well and I was pleasantly surprised. Alongside the very good, yet old, worn out and leathery Nolte, is a downplayed Tchéky Karyo as placid cop Roger who`s always on Nolte`s case. It`s always good to see Karyo in whatever part he plays, as there`s nearly always a sense of antagonism behind that cool French exterior. The beautiful Nutsa Kukhianidze (Anne), with whom Nolte shows an uncharacteristic paternal side, plays well as does Ouassini Embarek (Said). Lastly but not least is the uncredited cameo of dodgy art dealer Ralph Fiennes complete with a wide boy English accent. Sorry Ralph, but I don`t think you could ever pull off anything other than the Queens English.

The only thing that seemed like a Hollywood ending was the ending with Nolte. Without spoiling it, all I can say is that the very real characterisations Jordan forms in the film don`t quite fit in with Nolte`s character in the casino. It`s an upbeat and nice ending to the story, but somehow doesn`t pierce our disbelief in his reformed character as a junkie and thief on a winning streak. It`s just me picking out a minor thing however.

How does this compare with other caper films? It doesn`t have the grandiose powerhouse of style that is Soderbergh`s Ocean`s Eleven, but The Good Thief does stand out on its own as slick and entertaining with a Mediterranean flavour. I enjoyed watching it simply because it manages to be different in character. Couple this with its stylish backdrop and some fine cast performances and it adds up to a film I think is worth seeing.