The Score Review
by Tim Wick
Just looking at the list of names connected with this film, you must at
least HOPE it will be good. Edward Norton, Robert DeNiro, Marlon Brando and
Angela Basset are the leads directed by Frank Oz (who has come a long way
since directing The Muppets Take Manhattan). Even a poor script is likely
to be acted well given the names above.
Fortunately, the script - though derivative and ultimately not terribly
original - is clever and tight and engaging. The acting, of course, is top
notch and the result is an enjoyable film.
Make no mistake - this is a by the numbers heist film that takes no new
risks and certainly breaks no new ground. To use that as an argument
against it is both unfair and unrealistic.
Audiences like heist films. Hollywood would have stopped making them years
ago if there wasn't any demand for them. I think we all dream about being
able to make that "one big score" that would mean we would be set for the
rest of our lives. It's easy to imagine yourself ripping off rich people.
Seriously, would Bill Gates care if I took something from his house worth a
measly couple million dollars? I'd be set for life and he could buy a new
one. Nobody got hurt and now there are two people with a lot of money
instead of just one.
So the first trick of a good heist film is to make sure that the audience
likes the guy who is doing the stealing and wants him to get the goods.
DeNiro's Nick is just about the perfect character with this in mind. Nick
has been cracking safes for the last twenty five years. He has a nice
apartment and runs a jazz club, but he's just a working class guy who pays
for all the things he enjoys through a job you don't exactly find in the
want ads. Years of slowly acquiring wealth at the risk of his freedom have
made Nick very weary. He's ready to quit. But we know that anyone like
Nick needs one last score before he's done. A heist movie demands it.
We want the score to work out for Nick. He's got a girlfriend (Bassett)
he's ready to settle down with, a good business that just needs to have the
mortgage paid off and a life that is a lot more comfortable than a prison
cell. One more score - a big one - and he's done.
But to make the score, he's going to have to work with Jack (Norton), a guy
on the end of the heist business that Jack was twenty five years ago. Jack
is cocky, clever and just a bit too reckless. He makes Nick uncomfortable.
He makes us uncomfortable because we aren't sure if he's the weak link in
the whole plan or stronger than Nick because he is more willing to take
chances. Norton is an accomplished actor who can say a great deal without
ever opening his mouth.
That skill is extremely important during the latter 45 minutes of the film,
which is the heist itself. I hope nobody thinks it's a spoiler that after
the set up, they actually try to commit the robbery. Given the sparse
dialogue in this sequence, it's imperative the actors are capable of
conveying their emotions without words or in urgent whispers.
Aside from liking the main character (which we do), the film has to generate
good tension where the heist itself is concerned. If we are absolutely
certain it will all work out, we will be shifting impatiently in our seats
until the thing is over. Oz and editor Richard Pearson keep things tight
and tense throughout, revealing just enough to let you know what should be
worrying you at specific moments in time. We know just enough to be
uncertain what each character is up to - it's an extremely effective
sequence.
If I have any significant gripe, it is only that the film ended about two
short scenes after it needed to. The scenes added nothing as they were
implied by what had come before. Big films like this often err in the same
manner - spelling something out because they assume the audience couldn't go
there on their own. That, however, is a nitpicky detail that did not
detract from my enjoyment of the film, it's just a post note to show that I
am capable of recognizing flaws in the movie since I'm not actually going to
give it five beakers.
So, to sum it up - the big things a Heist movie has to do is make you care
about the people doing the job and make the job itself engaging. The score
delivers on both accounts and contains some fine acting as a bonus (I
haven't even mentioned Marlon Brando - bad oversight but it's too late now).
As the lackluster summer of '01 plods on, this film is something of an
oases.
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