Review of Thief (1981) by Anonymous User — 29 May 2014

The plot of Thief is a very familiar one. Frank is an independent thief with his own code, and dreams of one day retiring from the game when he has all the things he wants. In the course of chasing that dream he is offered a job by a mob boss. Should he accept the job and the big paycheck it promises, or remain on his own? The story is similar to a number of crime dramas that have come before or since, but there is something I find admirable about its simplicity. They are not trying to reinvent the wheel here, instead they seized a familiar movie plot and devoted themselves to making it as good in quality as they possibly could. I think they were quite successful. Even though things are predictable, I still enjoyed the ride getting there. Of course it was not perfect. One of the biggest problems in Thief is the fact that they used Tangerine Dream for the music. It feels so wrong for the film, and dates it terribly because of that typical 80's synth sound. Then I hear the director on the commentary telling me that he originally wanted to use a jazz or blues style of music, which sounds so perfect it is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Since the plot is so basic and simple to follow, the movie quickly becomes a character piece. This is where the great casting makes Thief a film I totally enjoyed. James Caan gives a stellar performance as Frank. The conscious decision to eliminate contractions from his speech pattern is brilliant (I copied that in this review just for fun.) It gives Frank a more deliberate and authoritative tone. There is a lot of nuance to Caan's performance, and a lot of emotion can be found in nothing more than a look. He has this air about him that is so intimidating and strong, but then something heartbreaking happens and you see this spark behind his eyes that betrays a chink in that armor. The other performance I adored was Robert Prosky as Leo, the mob boss. For a large part of the film he is like a big cuddly teddy bear. You can see how people would put their trust in him. But when he needs to flip that switch, he is perfectly menacing and drives home the fact that you should not mess with him. The other big dramatic role goes to Tuesday Weld as Jessie, Frank's wife. She is like the girl caught in the middle. You can see that she loves Frank deeply and trusts that, no matter what he does, he is a good man at heart.

What intrigued me most about this film was the fact that they created such a strong arc for the character of Frank. Early in the film I was not sure I liked him very much. It is not that he was simply a criminal, but more the fact that he did not seem to care about anyone. Then there is this superb scene between Frank and Jessie where he talks about what happened to him in prison. Suddenly, I was totally on board with him and completely understood his mindset. He had forced himself to stop caring about anything. The great irony is that, as Frank achieves his dreams one step at a time during the film, he does not realize he is creating things for himself to care about. The final scenes are hard to watch, not because of the violence, but because of how emotionally charged the whole thing has become as we have grown to care about Frank throughout the film. Finally it is worth mentioning that the actual heist scenes feel so authentic. You can tell that they had real thieves and cops on set to advise them on the proper techniques and tools for the job. My final opinion of Thief was surprisingly positive. Yes, the plot was a too by-the-book and the music was almost unbearable, but the characters had me emotionally invested from start to finish.