Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"The Italian Job" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/02/2012
After the successful heist of a safe full of gold bullion, Charlie Croker and his crew are double-crossed and left for dead leaving them swearing revenge on their ex-comrade. So this is The Italian Job? Marky Mark and a bunch of Americans driving German made minis through Los Angeles? THE ITALIAN JOB?? Well, now that's out of my system, what we obviously have here is a bunch of Hollywood studio execs looking at the success of Ocean's Eleven and saying to themselves "I want a piece of that action!" In fact it is far more a remake of Soderbergh's movie than the original Italian Job, with the usual mix of nicknamed, wise-cracking stereotypes planning a robbery in the usual Hollywood style. It's all very familiar and generic and the presence of Charlize Theron as the token love interest and …
Rating of
3/4
The Italian Job (2003)
MovieAddict - wrote on 01/25/2012
The story begins in Venice, Italy, where a team of expert thieves under the tutelage of Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg), pulls off an amazing heist of gold bars valued at $35 million. But before any of the guys have had a chance to cash in and enjoy their stake, they are betrayed by one of their own, Steve, played by Edward Norton, who kills their mentor, the beloved John Bridger (Donald Sutherland), and leaves the rest of the gang for dead in a near-frozen river in the snowy Alps.
A year later Charlie gets the gang together again and tracks Steve down in Los Angeles to settle the score. The gang consists of Handsome Rob the car expert (Jason Statham), Left Ear the explosive expert (Mos Def), Seth Green the computer whiz "Napster" Lyle and they also enlist John’s daughter Stella …
Rating of
3/4
Better tha Ocean's 11?? In some ways it is.
mdtinney - wrote on 09/17/2009
The Italian Job is a complete film with few weak links. The acting is superb - and by extension the casting. Well directed, great camera work, good special effects - but the writing is what I believe set it apart and took it to the next level. The inevitable comparisons to Soderberg's "Oceans 11" are unfair to Italian Job in my opinion. I felt this film was much better written, the acting was better and overall execution a cut above what Oceans 11 accomplished. When watching the latter, I felt like it was more escapist entertainment, whereas Italian Job did a much better job of drawing me in to the story -and- entertaining me.The criticisms that Wahlberg didn't have enough 'charisma' to pull off the leading male role in this film are unfounded. If they came from the same people who …
Rating of
3/4
Polished, Astute Heist Film
Franz Patrick - wrote on 11/12/2008
I saw this movie back in 2003 but I find it amazing that I don’t remember anything about it except that one tunnel scene near the end. So, I decided to watch it the second time and was reminded of how much I liked it the first time. I like that this isn’t the kind of caper film that takes itself too seriously. The tone of the picture is very light–it has that laid back, vacation feel that makes me want to go outside and frolic with nature. The characters of Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, and Mos Def are very funny in their own ways (I loved the Napster jokes!) but also very smart which makes them that much more interesting. I don’t know if I completely bought Edward Norton as the villain but I felt that he had fun with his character so I played along …
