The Italian Job

We've all seen our share of heist films. If so, then you've seen this film as well. A remake of the 1969 film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine, this film tries to capture that fast paced, quick-witted British style. It fails. While I enjoyed the cast, which includes Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Ed Norton, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Mos Def and Seth Green, I never really felt invested in what was happening in their lives. While I enjoyed some of the location shooting, there is barely any Italy shot, and most of the action takes place in Los Angeles. While the chase scenes were ornate and certainly quick, what with the Mini Coopers and all, they paled in comparison with others I have seen. There is simply nothing overly impressive about this movie. It is a cookie-cutter job wrapped in some decent packaging. I didn't hate it, I just didn't find anything worthy to single out that has not been done before, and probably a little better. The director, F. Gary Gray, apparently comes form music videos and it shows a bit. There is some growth among the characters, but ultimately the twists and turns are predictable and it settles for a clichéd ending. I was looking forward to the heist job at least, because I love to see a plan come together (thank you Hannibal), but even that disappoints. Time is spent on the planning and preparation, but the best heist occurs at the very beginning and we are left with another hour or so to ponder what comes next, if we haven't figured it out already. There are some amusing scenes, most involving Seth Green, but as a whole, this movie is an assembly line product just making money off of names - it stars and it's predecessor. If it comes on cable, check it out, but don't waste your money on this lest you convince the morons in Hollywood to keep giving us this crap. That is all.