Review of Thief (1981) by Chris W — 23 Jun 2012

Michael Mann made his feature length directorial debut with this slick and stylish neo-noir heist thriller, and, though he perfected his craft later on with the far more polished and fully realized Heat, he got off to a solid and cracklingly good start here.

James Caan shines in his best lead role as Frank- a wisecracking lone wolf veteran safecracker who dreams of starting over and living a completely legitimate life with his new girl. Of course, things are never that way, and he finds himself stuck between corrupt cops and volatile mobsters, forced to pull one last job before he can finally move on.

The basic plot is nothing new, and the romance aspect is somewhat flat and not very compelling, but Mann makes it all quite bearable with his now trademark style, expressive camerawork and lighting, pulsating music, and high degree of realism and authenticity. The man has an extensive knowledge of police procedure and the criminal way, and it really shows in all of his films. He's not the kind of guy who pulls punches when it comes to delivering a compelling and realistic crime drama.

Even though there's already enough of them, I think it would be interesting to see Mann direct a Punisher film. Lord knows that would have the potential to be one of the best ever...that is if he can come out of his slight funk and return to his roots (namely not shooting on digital).

Sorry for the tangent. Moving on now.

Caan is awesome as Frank, and this is seriously one of his best roles ever. Tuesday Weld is okay, but not all that interesting as Frank's girl Jessie. To round out some roles, Mann got Willie Nelson of all people, and both Dennis Farina and William Petersen in their acting debuts. James Belushi show's up as a pal of Frank's, and he's surprisingly really good. I've been skeptical of the man for years, and, though his borther was better, he's deserving of a tad more respect.

This is quintessential and archetypical Mann. It is rough around the edges, but that contributes to part of its charm, and also makes his more polished aforementioned crown jewel (Heat) shine even more. If you want a rehashed crime plot done exceedingly well, then definitely give this one a spin.