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The Italian Job (Full Screen Edition)Rating:
Release Date: 07 October, 2003 Retail Price: $14.99 OUR Price: $8.33 You SAVE: $6.66! Cast: Complete Cast (12 total) |
The Italian Job (Full Screen Edition) Reviews
Revenge is best served cold
Here Edward Norton proves again that there's no loyalty among thieves, offs the beloved Donald Sutherland and tries to murder the "wrecking crew" of Jason Statham, Mark Wahlberg, and others.
Charlize Theron, not really used as she is capable, plays Sutherland's daughter who joins the remaining group to repay Norton for killing her father a year later and two continents away. Several times the caveat 'it's not about the money' is repeated, which is important lest we forget that these are honorable thieves, not, well, dishonorable thieves. Reminds me of the old legal axiom, "when the lawyers tell you it's not about the money it's about the principle . . . . it's about the money." I mean Hell. It's 35 million dollars!
Anyhow, "The Italian Job" has Theron who as always does a credible job with what she's given and is drop dead gorgeous while she's doing it, Statham who is just as tough as they come and like Dominic West ("The Wire") a credit to his British Roots, and Mark ("I am not Matt Damon and I am much better than Matt Damon") Wahlberg, who does a good job as the leader of the pack and chief retributionist.
The drawback (and it's a fun show) is that there is little feeling to it. You know Sutherland is sponsoring Wahlberg to be the best thief in the world, but we don't know why. Wahlberg et al. travels 5ooo miles to Hollywood and brings the four remaining gang members, with cars, motorcycles and connections to avenge Sutherland, but we don't know how he gets the money to do so (he lost evrything in "the Italian job") or why. Charlize doesn't like Wahlberg but after awhile, she still seems unenchanted with him. And Norton is an evil, murdering bad guy . . . . at least they tell us that but it doesn't seem to come across.
It's like the "Bourne" movies with Damon, kind of the same in the sense that they are big on retribution and have great cinematography. There's feeling there; there isn't here. 4 stars. Larry Scantlebury
Is L. A. in Italy?
Even though this movie starts out in Venice, with motorboat chases down the canals following an ultra modern heist of gold bars worth 35 million dollars, most of the action takes place out in California. There really is not much Italian about this job; even the funky music is pure L.A. -- not easy on the ears or senses. It is pretty weird with lots of noise but not much taste.
The dialogue isn't much, either. Seth Green of WITHOUT A PADDLE fame was the best of the bunch, as the computer wiz Napster. He looks so much like Michael Feinstein, it is a joy to watch his antics. They use cell phones and computers which I know were not in the original 1969 version starring Michael Caine who was the original 'Alfie.'
The weird looking cars (mini Coopers) red, white and blue were something like the teen races in 'Rebel Without A Cause' and 'Grease.' They maneuvered down on the Metro underground tracks and through storm drain tunnels to escape the black helicopter after a fashion.
We see the famous junkyard run by the Italians where the garbage men are warned by a 400-lb. Oriental or Ukranian (take your pick). The first attempt to recover the gold which is left -- 208 bricks worth 27 million had to be aborted because of a neighbor's large party in the gated and guarded grand mansions.
There was nothing poetic about this bunch of international criminals. The helicopter flew right past the Hollywood hill sign, Hotel Roosevelt, and Chinese Theatre. The traffic jams caused by a malfunction at the Traffic Control Center showed some buses; #2636 looked like the old white borrowed vehicles KAT has from Worchester, Mass. The mini cars are driven into a cattle car attached to the Union Pacific train and off they go into the wild blue yonder.
It could have been a western except for the Big Brother cameras out on the freeway.
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