Review of The Italian Job (1969) by William M — 07 Dec 2012

I was very disapointed with the entire experience. My hopes were too high for this picture, mainly, because most of the viewers are often shooting off their mouths on how good of a movie it is. However if someone asked me about my oppinion I would say I enjoyed it to an extand. However the picture is not flawless. The phrase 'A little more conversation and little less action please...' describes the spirit of the film.

When it comes to the overall story, the film has trouble outlining it to us. It shifts from one scene to another too quickly,the writers rushed the story through the movie living some of the elements unexplained. For example it would be interesting to find out how did they choose the drivers for the job, or how did Charlie made connections with the various figures, how did they get the cars for the job, the LandRover for example seems to be of interest for me. There are lots of opportunities for some dialog, since the movie contains a lot of humorous lines, they could add even more in the additional dialog.

Additionaly, the film seems constructed in an ackward fashion, seems, like most of the plot elements just came of the wall, when it was penned. We often get facts and story elements, that apear without any explenation. A good haste film, such as the new Ocean's Eleven takes a lot of time to explain the origins of each of the characters, shows how they got the equipment for the job and why they were given that errant in the first place. All the other haste films are about the characters having a special relationship with each other. The ways by which they interact makes us to root for them. This film doesn't take a minute to show it all to us, which suprises me, since it was used as a blueprint for most of the films of that genre. Here the characters just go through the motions without any interaction, except for cliche-fuelled jokes.

If I were to rate this picture in a Siskel & Ebert fashion, it would be a 'thumb side-ways flick'. The movie is overally entertaining to watch, but when it comes to the adittional utility of story-telling and character development, it doesn't quite 'blow the bloody doors off'.

Final Verdict: Skip this 'classic'.