Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Neil Jordan is a master!, April 26, 2003
In the Good Thief, Neil Jordan revisits some of his signature territory (down and out criminal type who dreams of something larger in a sea-side landscape) with a breezy, light-hearted spirit. Unlike Mona Lisa or the Crying Game (some of my favorite films), the main character doesn't have to swallow a bitter pill at the end. As a heroin-addict and master thief, Nick Nolte gives a tempered but not tortured performance. He's the man that all the male characters want to be & all the women want to be with (at least all the drug-addicted underage prostitutes and bar owners do!). And you start to understand why--it's great fun to watch Nolte's rumpled addict at the start (complete with a series of unfortunately-patterned leisure shirts), be seduced by his non-stop inventive storytelling and applaud him when, with luck regained, he grandstands an amazing night of gambling, impervious to the success or failure of his double heist that's being enacted at the same time. After seeing this movie and Affliction, I have to say Nolte's a great actor. People in the audience were clapping and laughing out loud when I saw it. The film is smart and incredibly fun to look at with stylish freeze-frames, fluid camera, beautifully colorful images. The soundtrack is terrific as well--reflects the multi-national cast and setting. One caveat: I did have to see the film twice to understand all the dialogue which is delivered in throw-away fashion by the mostly European cast; however, second viewing allowed me to appreciate how cleverly the plot and characters are constructed. As another reviewer mentioned, all character development has some important pay-off (while also delivering imaginative portraits from this melting-pot Mediterranean underworld). This isn't McGyver--really the point of this heist movie isn't the mechanics of how the caper goes down, but the enjoyable characters who you follow through the story. Highly recommended!
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nolte le Flambeur, April 10, 2003
Neil Jordan is a master storyteller and filmmaker and also the director of the new Nick Nolte film, "The Good Thief." Nolte plays Bob Montagnet (montaigne): a beat up, past his prime, drug addled, seemingly out of it, former big time thief faced with the prospect and challenge of his final, once in a lifetime heist.
Nick Nolte, craggy-faced, whiskey voiced and dripping with charisma plays Bob like it is his final performance ever: his every word is delivered with deathbed earnestness... voluptuous with meaning.
Bob is a man who has come to the realization that his days as a thief and a romancer of women have just about come to an end. And because of this, when he is offered a chance in a lifetime to plan and execute the ultimate heist, he grasps at it with every fiber of his being for he knows there will be no more chances to make his mark .He is a man possessed with self-knowledge enough to know that this is his final chance to collect enough money to live out his days in luxury. Bob Montagnet could not, would not ever live without the finer things in life.
"The Good Thief" was shot in the south of France and in Monte Carlo by Michael Balhaus in gorgeous jewel tones to reflect the luxury of the world in which Bob revolves.
If there is a fault in this film it is in the re-dubbing: the voices do not always blend with the milieu in which they were shot.
"The Good Thief" is a thoughtful portrait of a man at the end of his career who must decide between fading into the sunset with a whimper or going out with a bang; even though that final bang might cost him his life.
As he showed in "The Crying Game" and "End of the Affair," Neil Jordan has an affinity for the disenfranchised, the disaffected, the outcasts of the world. And once again in "The Good Thief" he shows that he can relate and empathize with those who can only survive if they live on the fringes: steadfastly adhering to a code of ethics that they alone can explain and which most of us would be hard pressed to uphold or adhere to.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nick Nolte Gives A Five Star Performance, May 20, 2003
This is an enjoyable heist film where the character development is the central element rather than the heist itself. If you want nonstop action and complicated plots, watch one of the big budget spectaculars with the marquee names; if you want a well told story then you should enjoy this movie. I highly recommend the initial Amazon reviews (posted in April) as accurately capturing the essence of this film: thus I will not repeat their detail here but strongly suggest that you read a few of them in order to understand the nature of this cinematic endeavor.Nick Nolte is Bob, a burned out heroin addict and former master thief who is recruited to mastermind a Monte Carlo casino heist. Tchecky Karo is Roger, a policeman who is his nemesis and is convinced that there is something being plotted. Nick's sidekick Paolo and a Bosnian prostitute named Anne who is befriended by Nick are the other main characters in a very engaging cast with several of the minor parts adding enjoyable twists to the story. There is the usual misdirection, just the right mix of humorous interludes and enough plot developments to keep the viewer's interest despite the slow pace of the story. The cinematography is excellent and definitely helps the story feel authentic. My only major reservation is mentioned in jupitergirl's review but deserves emphasis. Both my wife and I found that the dialogue was often hard to understand, especially early in the film until we became accustomed to the accents, inflections, and cadences of the various actors (most of whom with the exception of Nolte were European and unfamiliar to us). In fact our unfamiliarity with the actors also meant that it took us a while to sort out the characters and their roles since they were introduced casually throughout the early part of the film. This is a well constructed and enjoyable movie, but given the slow pace at which it proceeds you should plan to see it when you just want to relax and see a story gradually unfold. The conclusion is really wonderful, both for its cleverness and sense of irony; it nicely tied together all the storylines. The caper was fun; the film was a pleasurable experience
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