The Art of the Steal
Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 3:26 pm
I don't know how I stumbled across this, but it's a little Canadian film that looked to be a pretty simple heist movie starring Kurt Russell. Well now, there's two things I love.....Heist/caper movies and anything with Kurt Russell. To be blunt, this movie could be terrible and I'd still enjoy it.
But damn.....Not only is it not terrible, it's quite good.....Like, this should have had a theatrical run.
It's a genre heist film, so it's covering familiar ground. Heist/caper films are all variations on the same basic themes, so there's a certain sense of deja vu. But what separates this film from crap like the Ocean's 11 films is a really strong cast (Russell, Terence Stamp, Jay Baruchel, Matt Dillon), a decent story, and a director that cares more about the characters than the mechanics of the caper.
This is a funny movie that doesn't take itself too seriously and lets the actors enjoy themselves. There is also a wonderful scene between Russell and Stamp that pulls the film into serious business for a few moments.
Russell's just such an entertaining guy to watch that the machinations of the plot (keep in mind that this is post-Tarantino and post-Shyamalan) become nearly secondary. And it's always a pleasure to see Stamp......I'd have loved it if he had a larger role.
At any rate, this is a really pleasant way to spend 90 minutes.
But damn.....Not only is it not terrible, it's quite good.....Like, this should have had a theatrical run.
It's a genre heist film, so it's covering familiar ground. Heist/caper films are all variations on the same basic themes, so there's a certain sense of deja vu. But what separates this film from crap like the Ocean's 11 films is a really strong cast (Russell, Terence Stamp, Jay Baruchel, Matt Dillon), a decent story, and a director that cares more about the characters than the mechanics of the caper.
This is a funny movie that doesn't take itself too seriously and lets the actors enjoy themselves. There is also a wonderful scene between Russell and Stamp that pulls the film into serious business for a few moments.
Russell's just such an entertaining guy to watch that the machinations of the plot (keep in mind that this is post-Tarantino and post-Shyamalan) become nearly secondary. And it's always a pleasure to see Stamp......I'd have loved it if he had a larger role.
At any rate, this is a really pleasant way to spend 90 minutes.