Review of Thief (1981) by Javid J — 19 Jul 2009

Frank: Look, in what I do there are sometimes pressures. What the hell do you think that I do? Come on. Come on, every morning I walk in for five months, say hi - what the hell do you think that I do?

Jessie: You sell little fucking cars, that's what you do.

Frank: I wear $150 slacks, I wear silk shirts, I wear $800 suits, I wear a gold watch, I wear a perfect, D-flawless three carat ring. I change cars like other guys change their fucking shoes. I'm a thief. I've been in prison, all right?

Michael Mann's first feature film, starring James Caan as an expert safecracker, is a well done neo-noir that certain establishes a number of filmmaking techniques that Mann would go on to use in his other works.

Caan stars as Frank, a jewel theif essentially forced into pulling one big job before retiring. Its the standard heist plot, but the movie does many things right. It establishes its characters, using dialog that almost feels like a David Mamet film from the way everyone seems to speak in the moment, without breaking it down for the audience.

Frank: You're marking time is what you are. You're backing off. You're hiding out. You're waiting for a bus that you hope never comes because you dont wanna get on it anyway because you don't wanna go anywhere. Ok?

The majority of the film involves Caan setting up a big heist in Los Angeles for a big time fence who is of course crooked. James Belushi costars as Caan's accomplice. Tuesday Weld turns up as the woman in Frank's life. And there is a very well preformed, but brief role from Willie Nelson as a father figure to Frank, stuck in prison.

Much of the appeal of this film comes from Mann's style. There are two long sequences involving heists in this film that have no dialog whatsoever, reminding me very much of the excellent French 40s noir - Rififi. These sequences are exciting to watch and just really cool to see in action.

The rest of the film makes sure to have carefully setup shots, mainly at night that certainly give off the noir vibe that Mann really likes. His handling of the photography in this movie is excellent and the 80s scoring from Tangerine Dream certainly adds to this.

Its a bit slow paced, but there are standout sequences, with Caan giving a great performance, and the look of the film keeping everything cool and stylish.

Frank: I am the last guy in the world that you wanna fuck with.