Review of The Thieves (1959) by Blake P — 21 Sep 2013

While one could point out that "The Thieves" is basically the Asian "Ocean's Eleven", by the end you'll basically forget that idea.  Because "The Thieves" is a riotously entertaining heist comedy that sounds long (at 136 minutes), but truly is so delicious that it's tempting to say it falls under the category of a movie that you "never want to end".  That might sound a little bit dramatic, but it's rare nowadays where a movie even touching action is actually fun instead of tiresome.

In hopes to steal the famous Tear of the Sun Diamond, which is worth $30 million, two professional heist crews team up to pull it off. Lead by the mysterious Macao Park (Kim Yoon-seok), who appears to have an ulterior motive, the group plans a massively complex blueprint of how the heist will go, which takes place in a heavily guarded casino. Yet somehow, nothing goes according to plan.

Grounded by an immensely likable cast, "The Thieves" captures our attention from the moment it starts, considering almost instantly it manages to wink at us and make us crack a smile.  Most famous Asian cinema is either grounded in Kung Fu or art-house a la Wong Kar-Wai; "The Thieves" is a refreshing change.

In an early scene, we're introduced to the middle-aged but wise "Chewing Gum" (Kim Hae-sook), and the beautiful Yenicall (Jeon Ji-hyun), both great thieves that are posing as mother in daughter in order to rob the owner of Leesung Gallery, whom Yenicall has been "dating" for months just to get her hands on the prize. In just this scene, we're also introduced to team leader Popie, and the acrobatics and smarts involved to pull off the theft. This scene is filled with comedy, action, and precious interaction between its characters; just by this early entry it's easy to tell that "The Thieves" is going to be a fun movie.

The dialogue is all very witty and knows exactly where it's going.  The characterizations thankfully aren't very deep, and we know enough about each character to where each antic is funny but also professionally done.   Choi Dong-hoon's direction is light-hearted, and he evidently knows how to make the audience get what they pay for.  While the action scenes are certainly all excellently shot (the ending is truly spectacular), there is plenty of legroom for comedy, and frequently the two combine.

What truly carries the film, however, is the ensemble, all of whom appear to be having a wonderful time filming.  The performances range from deadly serious to timed to comedic perfection, and it balances out flawlessly.  Standouts include Ji-hyun, who's sexy, funny, but still believable as a determined cat burglar; Jung-Jae, presents us with delightfully silly physical comedy to distract us from the fact that his character is a terrible person.

"The Thieves" is the second highest-grossing film of all-time in Korea, and it's easy to see why.  It's 136 minutes of entertainment at its best. We might have "The Avengers" to brag about, but South Korea should boast about "The Thieves" too.