Review of The Art of the Steal (2013) by Tomas N — 20 Apr 2014

After his brother Nicky (Matt Dillon) snitches on him to save himself for a long jail term, Kurt Russell plays Crunch Calhoun who comes out of a 7-year Polish prison stretch after a heist they're both involved in goes awry.

Now a daredevil performer (echoes of Death Proof's stuntman Mike) and with apprentice Francie (Jay Baruchel) and "Uncle" Paddy (Kenneth Welsh), they get back in touch with Nicky after he steals a Georges Seurat painting and they all band together for an even bigger score to steal and sell a Gutenberg Bible - a priceless artefact stored in a Canadian warehouse.

With good support in the form of Jason Jones as Agent Bick of Interpol and Terence Stamp as Samuel Winter (a con helping them) the film plays as Ocean's-lite crossed with the disappointing Now You See Them.

With great chemistry between the characters, even the normally annoying Baruchel is given some good lines, the film won't break any new boundaries and is filmed in the most perfunctory manner but in spite of that it works as a fun forgery/crime caper.

As the game of cat and mouse hots up, the group's tensions boil over as they create replicas, plan the forgeries and try to cross the border as they attempt to stay one step of the authorities - and of each other.

From comical cops and criminals to a well written if generic script, The Art of the Steal is simply a harmless heist film with its share of hold-ups and humour. 7/10 Midlands Movies Mike.