Thief (1981)

Touches You

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I believe Mann is a good director. From acclaimed works like "Collateral" and "Heat" to underrated gems like "Blackhat". He has always been known for creating gritty realistic crime thrillers. This all started back in 1981 with this uncommonly different piece of cinema. Having the desire to rid his past life of crime, a thief is hired for one final heist. However, we all know greed gets the better of us as soon he is trapped in a contract that requires him to perform more heists. If you're good at something, you will always be in demand. Much like our eponymous thief. This is a good solid thriller that is fuelled by dialogue. I mean, if a fifteen minute scene is just two characters talking in a diner, you know you'll need to focus on every word spoken. It's sharp, and I mean very sharp. The problem with this is that the need for dialogue feels far too forced. It's just fluff, and really doesn't develop these characters. The thief perhaps more than others, the supporting characters were redundant. I was completely disinterested during the first hour, I didn't connect with any of the characters and did not care for what was happening. James Caan was effortlessly in control though. Then the final heist begins and somehow my eyes are glued to the screen. Mann's slick urban directing style, the synthesised musical score, the flashing neon lights and city backdrop. It all worked. Then silencing the background music during scenes of tension, like breaking into the vault, was genius. I was intrigued by the thief's methods and thought it was intricately executed. Then the final twenty minutes arrive. I was in suspense heaven! I just wished the thrills were maintained throughout. Think of this as a precursor to "Heat". This is technically accomplished, whereas the latter is that and full of investing characters. A great debut though, just too much focus on dialogue that I didn't care about.

Professional safe cracker Frank (superbly played with fierce steely resolve by James Caan) lives by his own personal code of honor and yearns to amass enough money so he can leave crime behind in order to lead a more normal life. Frank gets involved with a major jewelry robbery that he believes will be his ticket out, but things don't go exactly as planned.Directed with tremendous style and precision by Michael Mann (who also wrote the taut and involving script), with a tough gritty tone, a substantial amount of tension, striking glittery cinematography by Donald E. Thorin, a riveting story that unfolds at a constant pace, a great moody pulsating score by Tangerine Dream, complex and believable characters, and a fantastic and meticulous major heist set piece that's both gripping and exciting in equal measure, this film packs one hell of a punch. Moreover, Mann astutely captures a harrowing sense of raw desperation bubbling just underneath the glossy surface which explodes in the rousing last third with Frank resorting to desperate measures in a violent last bid to retain his integrity and autonomy. The terrific acting by the super cast keeps this movie humming: Tuesday Weld brings a touching vulnerability to her role as Frank's sweet, but damaged wife Jessie, Robert Prosky delivers a supremely chilling portrayal of ruthless and domineering crime boss Leo, James Belushi lends sturdy support as Frank's easygoing partner Barry, and Willie Nelson shines in his regrettably small part as Frank's folksy mentor Okla. An excellent and impressive film.

James Caan plays Frank, a professional safe cracker. He has a collage comprising images of his dream life which he must have assembled in 4th grade because what grown man makes silly collages? This film tries to be a character study, crime drama, love story and revenge flick. It doesn't fully succeed in anything. In this movie, there is sophisticated equipment, tough talk, shooting, explosions, bad cops, cityscapes, pretty beach scenes, dramatic music, etc. There is even Willie Nelson in a pointless side story that takes less then 10 minutes of screen time. All this stuff makes a stylish movie but not an interesting movie. Frank decides he wants a family, so he finds Tuesday Weld in the first 10 minutes and talks her into marrying him. Later, they buy a baby from a mobster because, presumably, Frank & Tuesday are in too much of a hurry to make a family the traditional way. James Caan affects a Brooklyn accent so thick, it's left over from the Godfather. In fact, everybody has a Brooklyn accent, even though the story takes place in Chicago! If it weren't for some bad words in the dialogue, this would play like an episode of Miami Vice. If you're happy watching pretty flickering images then Thief is an acceptable time waster but it will leave you feeling empty about it because it's characters are shallow.

Thief is written and directed by Michael Mann, who adapts the screenplay form the novel "The Home Invaders" written by Frank Hohimer. It stars James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, James Belushi and Willie Nelson. Music is by Tangerine Dream and cinematography by Donald Thorin.Frank (Caan) is a tough ex-con and expert jewel thief. He's working his way out to a normal life, but after being lured to a big job for the mob, he finds plans on both sides severely altered.For his first full length theatrical feature, Michael Mann announced himself to the film world with some distinction, and in the process showed everyone what style of film making makes him tick. Thief is a film of stylised grit, visually, thematically and narratively. Set and filmed in Chicago, Mann, aided by Thorin, shoots the story through pure neo-noir filters.At nighttime it is all a beautifully neon drenched haze, where the streets shimmer with dampness, a dampness brought about by the rain and god knows what else! By day there's a sweaty hue, a feeling that the heat is well and truly on, that even in daylight Frank isn't safe, his dreams may be a touch too far to reach. And no matter what the scene or scenario, Tangerine Dream are laying over the top a throbbing pulse beat, it's like The Warriors trying to get back to Coney Island, the music has a sense of dread about it, that danger is at every corner.This part of Chicago stinks, it's a vile and corrupt place. Dirty cops everywhere, underworld criminals ruling the roost - Hell! You can even buy a baby if you want one. Is it any wonder that Frank just wants to settle down with a wife and child, to walk barefooted in the sea, to have domesticity? But Frank, as smart, tough and savvy as he is, seems to thrive on the edge of things, with Mann giving him earthy and honest dialogue to engage us with, marking him out as an identifiable every man protagonist who just happens to be an exceptional thief.Mann's attention to detail is on show straight away, none more so than with the two key safe cracking jobs that are undertaken. Using genuine jewel thieves as technical advisers on the film, these sequences ooze realism, from the tools used, the pre-planning and the execution of the takes, it smacks of reality and does justice to the genuine feel of the characterisations brought alive by the superb cast. And finally Mann delivers a finale of ambiguity, a noir shaded piece of abruptness, an ending that perfectly fits the whole production. 9/10