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The Italian Job | Year: 2003 Classification: Action/Adventure Actors/Actresses: - Mark Wahlberg - Charlize Theron - Edward Norton - Donald Sutherland - Jason Statham - Seth Green - Mos Def Mindless Fun!!! Starring: Mark Wahlberg Directed by: F. Gary Gray (Friday, A Man Apart) The Italian Job is a fast-paced, entertaining, and fun crime caper. In a year of pointless remakes, this one fairs very well and boasts a terrific cast who deliver excellent performances. The admittedly cliched plot follows the same set-up as most caper films, including the recent "Ocean's 11" and "The Good Thief," which, despite the hype, was boring and poorly edited: a crew get together to pull of a heist, the characters are briefly introduced, the preparation is set forth,and finally, it comes time to complete the heist, with lots going wrong. Despite the formulaic scenario, director F. Gary Gray's execution was high-energy and exciting, so the lackluster plot can easily be overlooked. One brilliant twis in the film has our characters rigging the stoplights of Los Angeles so they can drive right out of the city with a carful of gold (in a safe that they're stealing back after their double-crossing ex-partner, played by Edward Norton, stole it from them), with nothing but green lights, while everyone else gets red lights, thus keeping the roads plugged with the largest traffic jam in L.A. history and the police from pursuing them. It's true the movie may have a few plot holes, and, yes, it works a little too hard to sell a happy ending, which is the only aspect of the film that DIDN'T work. But this kind of pure escapist fare can get away with a certain amount of flaws through high spirits and sheer inventiveness - both abundant qualities in The Italian Job. It's an adventure and a character study and a hoot-and-a-half worth of laughs. Frankly, all summer movies should be this much fun. **1/2 stars out of 5 F. Gary Gray directs a star-powered ensemble cast pitting Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Seth Green, Mos Def, and Jason Statham up against Edward Norton in a heist adventure film that is "Ocean's Eleven" meets "The Score." 35 million dollars in gold bars were smuggled by Wahlberg, Norton, Statham, Green, Def and Donald Sutherland. Norton turns on his crew, kills Sutherland, thinks he's killed the others and flees to Hollywood with the loot. Why is Norton always the backstabber? Now safecracker babe Theron wants revenge on Norton for killing her father, and feels that if she joins the old team in taking the gold back from him, it will somehow ease her grievance. I liked Statham and Sutherland and sometimes Green and Mos Def. I didn't like Wahlberg or Theron. As for Edward Norton- he doesn't even belong in this movie. Some of the gimmicks were fun, some of the chases were fast, some of the one-liners get chuckles, but this is just a kid's petty-thief movie. It's pretty safe to say "Ocean's Eleven" and "The Score" were much better films on their own. cute movie..... cute movie, but there was a bit too much mini-cooper in it. come on, is this a movie or commerical? Buy The Italian Job at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Italian Job Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Italian Job This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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