Thief
"I am the last guy in the world...that you want to fuck with." - Frank
release year: 1981
genre: crime drama
viewing setting: home Bluray 4/14/26 and home DVD 6/12/22 and 8/27/13 and 8/31/05 and 8/12/02
synopsis: A master thief dreams of a normal life, but finds it difficult to escape the world of crime.
impressions: This is essentially the same story as Heat but 16 years earlier, so it's got the 1970s/1980s thing going on. There were even similar lines from the protagonist here. It was highly entertaining, but I had to sit there and wonder about some things, mainly whether or not Frank could actually someday realize his dreams if he'd just let his attitude/ego take the back seat. There were also some skips of logic, where things would just happen and I felt like I missed a scene or something - which was of course impossible since I hadn't taken my attention off of the movie at all. Nonetheless, if watching people plan and execute an elaborate break-in (or watching a man who absolutely refuses to take any shit from anyone) thrill you, then you'll like this movie.
acting: James Caan is Frank, described above. Jim Belushi is his likeable and competent crime partner. Tuesday Weld is the woman with whom Frank tries to make his dreams come true. Willie Nelson is Frank's mentor who's dying in prison. Robert Prosky is the mean old crime boss who wants to run Frank's life.
final word: Good crime/thief drama.
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