Rating: 
Summary: The Italian Job is awesome!
Review: I just bought this movie and was so thrilled! I had wanted to go see it in theaters when it first came out but none of my friends had seen it so I had no feedback. I had been wanting to see it and found it on sale. Yes, I bought it without seeing it first cause I knew it had to be good. I think it's excellent and would compare it to Oceans 11, another great and exciting movie.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it; it¿s a pretty good movie
Review: Summary:
Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) and John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) are career criminals that have surrounded themselves with criminal experts to help them in their burgling exploits. They have their getaway specialist, Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), their technology specialist, Lyle/The Napster (Seth Green), and their demolitions specialist, Left Ear (Mos Def).
The movie begins with a very well thought out heist in Venice, Italy where the gang, with the help of another career criminal, Steve (Edward Norton), steals 30+ million dollars in gold and pulls it off without a hitch... well, almost.
The hitch is Steve double crosses the rest of the group, kills John, and leaves the rest for dead. But Charlie and the rest of the gang don't give up so easily. They escape, regroup, and track Steve down in Los Angeles. The only problem is without John, who also happened to be the group's safe cracker, the group doesn't have anyone that can open the safe where Charlie is keeping the gold. Charlie then turns to John's daughter, Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), who happens to be a legitimate safe specialist, to help them bring Steve down by stealing his gold.
Stella agrees and the group sets up their plan - lure Steve out of the house, break in, steal the gold, and get out of LA before Steve is any wiser. But Steve catches on to the plan when he figures out Stella's identity. The result is a much more complicated plan that results in high speed chases involving helicopters, Mini-Coopers, and armored trucks. The movie ends with Steve being done in by someone other than Charlie's group, but he is delivered into their hands by Charlie. Though it takes some doing, Charlie and the gang get the gold, Stella gets satisfaction, and Charlie and Stella get each other.
My Comments:
Following in the tradition of caper movies, this movie sets you up to root for criminals (something my wife continuously points out to me as being supportive of anti-social behaviors). Also, this movie is kind of a remake of a movie from the sixties with the same name. But based upon what the writers and director of the film have to say (I haven't seen the original), the movies are actually quite different.
As far as the story goes, it's pretty solid. I was very impressed by the eventual resolution of pretty much every plot point. For example, after 'The Italian Job' (the heist in Venice), each of the gang members goes around saying what they are going to do with their share of the money. When Steve turns on them, they obviously can't afford to do what they had planned. However, Steve takes all of their advice and gets all of the things they had wanted. But once the tables are again reversed and Steve meets his fate, the movie concludes with the dreams of the gang members being realized. This is really just a very small part of the movie, but the fact that it was included and well-resolved speaks highly of the care given to details in this film.
However, there are some problems with the story that, if resolved, would have made the movie both more convincing and more entertaining. The major problem I had with the story was Stella's motivation for getting involved in the second heist. I think through a combination of poor acting on Charlize Theron's part and part scripting and dialogue, Stella's motivation turns into a mottled sense of revenge, but it was not a very convincing sense of revenge and definitely didn't seem like enough motivation to leave what appeared to be a very good job in order to get involved in what could potentially result in Stella's death. If you can give the movie leeway here, the rest of the movie is good enough that you can quickly forget that Stella's motivation is not only shallow but weak.
The other problems really just involve kind of poor decisions on the part of the writers, even though the decisions are probably justified because without them the movie would not have been able to continue. How the gang survives being dumped into a reservoir in the top of the Alps is beyond me. After about a minute in that water they would have been suffering the effects of hypothermia. It never could have happened. Also rather silly is the idea that Steve, who just happens to be on the lamb, would hit on a cable repair person despite thinking that he recognizes her. This obviously advances the story by given Charlie and his gang the ideas for plan B and makes the movie much more exciting, but is still pretty forced. I should point out, however, that despite having problems with some of these things I really didn't see them as being that distracting. It really is a pretty solid movie.
As for the acting, I was actually pretty impressed, especially by Mark Wahlberg. Perhaps this is just the perfect role for him, because I have not been impressed with him in the past, or maybe he's just improving, but I really liked him in this role. With the exception of some of Charlize Theron's poorer segments, the rest of the cast was really good. Seth Green, Jason Statham, and Mos Def were all very funny. I do have to admit that I was surprised to see Statham in a supporting role after what I thought was a pretty good performance in The Transporter. The only other problem I had with the acting is that Edward Norton's abilities as an actor didn't seem to be utilized to their fullest extent. He has done some incredible stuff, but he wasn't really a stand out in this film. I think just about anyone could have played that role and played it about as well as he did. He was fine, but this definitely wasn't Fight Club or American History X.
Overall, this is a very entertaining movie. When you find out by watching the special features that almost all of the stunts and chase scenes are real rather than CGI I think pretty much anyone will be amazed at what the makers of this film were able to do. With a fairly solid story and pretty good acting, I'm going to recommend this to action movie fans. The story isn't super-deep and the characters aren't as developed as those from a Kerouac novel, but this is a very enjoyable movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Con Job
Review: The Italian Job is a very loose remake of a 1969 caper film that originally starred actor Michael Caine. While I was watching this more action oriented updated version, I had the distinct feeling that director F. Gary Gray was trying to follow the style of Soderbergh's remake of Ocean's 11, while giving the film a harder edge then the 1969 film had. I wish he decided on one way to take it, instead, he split too many hairs to tell his story. John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) is an aging thief. Bridger leads a rag tag bunch to help him pull off one last job in Italy. After the job is finished, he intends to hand over the job as leader, to his protege`Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg). John hopes to be able to spend more time with his daughter Stella (Charlize Theron), as well as, his share of the stash. After the job is successfully executed. John is killed by a trusted member of the team, named Steve. (Edward Norton) The others are left for dead. The rest of the film is a game of wits between Steve and the team, under Charlie's leadership, as they plan to teach him a lesson I have to admit the action scenes were well planned and executed in the film. However, as far as the plot is concerned, it was very predictable. The film's humor, editing style, and music, just took their "cues" from the aforementioned Ocean's 11. Gray and the writers also decided their had to be some drama as well. Sadly, these moments come across as forced, and unreal. I wish someone had stuck to making the movie either a true caper or a drama. The 2 genres have a hard time mixing with one another. The one saving ingredient for me here, is actor Seth Green as the resident computer geek, Lyle. His dry delivery livens up any film he does. Theron gets points for being as great looking as ever; For his part Wahlberg is good, but he's been better in other roles. The extras on the disc are pretty average. I was really hoping for a an audio commentary for this film. I may have issues with the movie, but, it still would have been cool to hear about the "how" and "why". The bulk of the bonus material is made up of 5 featurettes that discuss everything from the script, the production, and the film's elaborate stunts. The best of these has to be the one called "The Driving School"--cool cars put to fine use. The six deleted scenes don't amount to much and were wisely left on the cutting room floor. TV spots and other ads for releases from Paramount. The Itailian Job is a film that does try hard to be all things. In the end, the film and DVD extras can only muster up a marginal *** star rating from me.
Rating:
Summary: Smart action movie
Review: The Italian Job is a great action movie with a smart storyline and great acting. I really enjoyed this movie because of its exciting plot, great characters, awesome Mini-Coopers, action, and humor. The story is about a group of thieves who are betrayed by one of their own. After successfully completing a gold heist one of the members of the group hijacks the gold and kills the leader of the group. What ensues is a fast-paced and exciting action movie. I really enjoyed the visuals-especially the speedy and highly manueverable Mini-Coopers. These awesome cars are used for the transportation of the gold in a great car scene through the subways and streets. The Italian Job is a really good movie that you have to see.
Rating:
Summary: don't know how much bmw invested in this movie for mini
Review: watchable, but could never get connected, just like watching a two hour long bmw-mini tv commercial with a shallow storyline and mucho castings. bmw actually tried very hard to fool viewers under the age of 25 to buy the lamed under powered mini by remodelling three minis with v-8 power, rock-solid chasis, zero to 60 under 6 seconds? none of the actors in this movie seemed really to get involved in the movie. after finished watching, all i could remember is those three cute like button minis, zoom-zoom-zoom....just like some of my rich clients once told me during the last horrible recession. "what recession?" she answered my question with a question. about this moive....well, "what movie? i just saw a 2-hr long car commercial. quite fun, though. definitely 100 times better than that limpy 'hollywood homicide'."
Rating:
Summary: The best crime caper that I've seen since "Ocean's Eleven"!!
Review: Even though I never really seen the original 1969 version of "The Italian Job" with Michael Caine, this explosive 2003 remake is, hands down, the best crime film that I've seen since the 2001 remake of "Ocean's Eleven", especially since "The Italian Job" has suspense at every twist and turn, compelling and daring escapes, and excellent cinematography! The hard-edged direction of F. Gary Gray ("The Negotiator") was nothing short of excellent! The talents of Mark Wahlberg ("Planet of the Apes"), Charlize Theron ("The Devil's Advocate"), Edward Norton ("The Score"), Seth Green (The "Austin Powers" films), Jason Statham ("The Transporter", "Snatch"), Mos Def ("Brown Sugar"), and Donald Sutherland ("A Time to Kill") were top-notch, powerful, and commanding! This remake of the 1969 film focuses on career criminal Charlie Croker (Wahlberg) and his team: computer expert Lyle (Green), wheelman Handsome Rob (Statham), explosives expert Left Ear (Mos Def), and inside man Steve (Norton). Along with Charlie's mentor/veteran safecracker John Bridger (Sutherland), the team has successfully pulled off a daring heist at a heavily guarded palazzo in Venice, Italy. The prize: $35 million worth of gold bullion! After a clean getaway, Charlie and the crew experienced a threat that they never saw coming...a double-crosser! As it turns out, Steve just happened to be the double-crosser! And the end result: The death of John Bridger and leaving the rest of the team for dead as well! A year later, Charlie and the team find Steve in Los Angeles and they decide to get some long-awaited revenge, but they couldn't do it alone. This is where John Bridger's daughter, Stella (Theron), comes into the picture. Stella is an expert safecracker with nerves of steel like her father, and the murder of her father provides much of the drive for the conflict of the film. Stella reluctantly joins Charlie and the gang as they come up with a brilliantly smart and devious plan. The plan: To re-steal the gold by tapping into L.A.'s traffic control system and manipulate signals, thus creating one of the biggest traffic jams in L.A.'s history! Also included in the plan is that once they have reclaimed the gold, they can get away in their speedy, but versatile, Mini Cooper automobiles, which are small enough to drive on sidewalks so they can make a clean getaway before the massive traffic jam clears. Like Charlie says in the film, "We'll do it like the Italian Job." Because you see, this isn't about the money. This isn't about payoff. It's about payback! In conclusion, "The Italian Job" has lots of action, harrowing suspense, brilliant stuntwork, lots of surprises, and outstanding performances from a top-notch cast! This is, by far, a DVD must-have to your crime caper collection! If you love movies such as this, then look no further than "The Italian Job"!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Exciting Movie !
Review: This was one of the best movies I have seen. The cast is incredible, the acting is outstanding, and the plot really holds your attention. And the chase scenes with that little car down in the subway are amazing. I told alot of my friends to go see it, that it was a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: this movie rocks
Review: if you havent seen the original, check this one out at video stores. I loved everthing about this movie. The chases, the action, the heists the characters. even the credits. There's no denying that Seth Green is the one that stands out in this movie. He is frickin awesome. The story is perfect and its a knockout script filled with the leads and the colorful supporting team(leads-Mark Wahlberg, Eddy Norton, Charlize Theron. supporter- Seth Green, Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland, Mos Def and Franky G). I wasnt bored and I defently believe you wont and if you are then your weird. weirder than I am
Rating:
Summary: Better then expected.
Review: This movie was far better then the movie gross makes you think. I saw it twice thanks to going with two different friends. I didn't mind one bit, I'll be buying the DVD the day it comes out. The nice range in actors and the great performances they gave made you care about the movie and plot more. Seth Green gave a standout performance compared to the Austin Powers movies. I look forward to seeing it again.
Rating: 
Summary: The Italian Dog , er Job
Review: I just saw the new 'The Italian Job'. I never walk out on movies, but, man, this one tempted me. After about 15 mins I asked my wife was she enjoying it, and she replied that she was. She doesn't often surprise me but this time she did. The only good things about this movie were the minis, and the villains (I love a well-played cad). On the downside, nearly every frame contained an advertisement for some product ...headsets, TV's, cars, stereos and computers (the brand name sticker on laptops cannot usually be read upside down!). The dialogue was rubbish, the characters were sterotypes, and the plot laughably predictable. I could not sympathise with any of the characters. This movie has none of the wit and charm of the original. I would give it 1 1/2 stars if I could, so 2 is being generous. ...
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