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The Score

The Score

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: 3 Generations of Top Acting Talent Wasted
Review: Yes, this film shows the A list actors of the '50s, '70s and '90s in a totally predictible, flat caper film. DeNiro is the main thief who works in association with Brando and is aided by Norton. Norton does do an astonishing acting job portraying a retarded man, at his job in the customs house as a janitor, so that he can scope out the scene of his crime. When he's not at work, he is "normal" and the character trait difference is extreme. In fact, maybe this film had an overload of talent and should have just used Norton in this role as a solitary thief, especially since DeNiro and Brando don't get a chance to show off their similar range of ability. A huge disappointment for me since I normally love Brando and DeNiro in anything.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A really fun popcorn heist flick.
Review: This was a fun heist flick. The actors were good and all looked like they were having a great time. After it was over and I thought a little about the film, I realized that it was all style and very little substance, but while I was watching it I really enjoyed it.

I recommend this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A bit too dull for De Niro
Review: I like Mr. De Niro as an actor, we all know he is one of the best, but this movie was a bit dull for him. It dragged, something wasn't right about it. I will admit to tension near the end, having something of a care to what happens to the lead character, and being a little pleased about the outcome, but it nearly wasn't worth it. Perhaps I watched De Niro in an excellent movie the day before and have been spoiled. Anyway, it wasn't an acting problem. It could have been great but it got lost somewhere along the way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ...the return of: the slow-paced thriller...
Review: i bought this not expectin 'die hard' or 'rush hour'...i wanted a good ol' fashioned movie, well fashioned and devoid of computer enhanced action sequences! and that's what i got...
the plot is nothin new (crooked men doin crooked things hopin to reach that point where they can go straight - yawn, been there/done it), but i'm a fan of de niro's and of norton's ('fight club' is my ish!) and i got what i wanted from this...

much better to my likin than 'the thomas crown affair' or 'entrapment'...'the score' woulda fell into the same mode as those movies if angela bassett woulda turned out to be a world-jetting, ex-c.i.a. operative turned jewel thief-informant-double agent! she doesnt...she's just a airline attendent lookin to settle down with someone she can trust and love...
i'm cool with that...

for those of yall that liked de niro in 'ronin', yall will proly enjoy this one just as well...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Old Hat
Review: _The Score_ creates a wonderful atmosphere of hard-boiled tension, but that's about it. I should also mention it scores high on the celebrity factor with Brando playing a significant role in the film (that is, he's in more than one scene). But when we get to the story, it's nothing more than a retelling of other older stories.

DeNiro's character, Nick Wells, is a veteran safecracker. The movie opens with Nick busting a safe at someone's house while a party is raging outside. After a travel montage depicting Nick's less than direct route back to his home in Quebec, we meet Max (played by Brando), the fence and the big guy who sets up Nicky with jobs. But Nick wants out of the whole thing. He's got this happenin' jazz club and his beautiful girlfriend, Diane, played by Angela Bassett. See where the movie's going? Anybody see _Carlito's Way_? Well, needless to say, Brando offers DeNiro the last big "score" and he can't refuse. And this time he's got to work with a partner, the impulsive Jack Teller (Ed Norton's role). Jack is an impersonator who's gets a job as a janitor at the site of the big score. He adopts the persona of a handicapped kid named Brian, and so no ones suspects him of anything and he stakes the place out while working the night shift. Norton deserves some recognition for this role since he does a convincing job acting handicapped.

So, Jack is the greenhorn, smart and talented but lacking experience and maturity. Nick is a straight player, by the books, a real stoic with a very even demeanor (trademark DeNiro). Picture this scene: DeNiro trying to talk sense into the kid (Norton), and he's calm, his plea is rational, it makes sense, but the kid is rash, stupid, and there's nothing Bobby-D can do because these kids just can't listen and do things right. They always gotta' be the hotshot! Well, that's how the film rolls out. See it for the nice cinematography and the big safecracking scene. But, if you haven't seen _Rififi_, you should see this film first. _The Score_is fun but it is a movie that will be forgotten.

Also: Bobby-D in his safecracking ninja suit bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain vigilante ductworker from an earlier film. Just thought I'd make the connection . . .

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great acting performances
Review: the acting is top notch and the direction was at the same peak when the movie is at full speed. Given twists could have been better but the story moves slow but fast in a way that the action doesnt stop even if the story hasnt sped up yet. Good old school de niro performance and very believing norton performance watch alot of talent melt the screen

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: perhaps the most over-rated movie ever
Review: With a cast full of great actors and a classic plot this should have been an excellent movie. However, it moved painfully slowly towards an overly abrupt ending. Norton did a great acting job which often causes viewers to consider this a quality movie. He is so good that often the nonsensical ending to the movie is overlooked. If you believed that this was a good movie I ask you to watch it once more and try to imagine how the heist could possibly be pulled off in that manner, there are siply too many flaws to deal with. Feel free to watch this movie, but please think about it before you take the slow paced plot as a sign of quality.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie
Review: I love this movie, Breaking in with high tech anything in anything cant be bad. Its like a james bond movie! The ending is good too. :)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not up to par!
Review: Although the performances of both Edward Norton and Robert De Niro where great. The film did not deliver what you'd expect from a movie combining De Niro with Norton.
The fact that De Niro and Norton gave great performances is something to be expected at this point in time. So we shouldn't be surprised that they did. We also expect them to be picky about what roles they will take.
My opinion was that the film left me feeling very very deissapointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gripping heist film mixed with smooth Montréal jazz
Review: In all honesty, I originally rented "The Score" just to see the location footage of Montréal. I hadn't read any reviews because I wanted the film to surprise me, and boy, it did! I was completely impressed with the rapport between De Niro, Norton and Brando as well as the appearance by Gary Farmer. As many have said before me, Angela Basset's screen time was limited to something like 10 minutes more or less, but she did a fantastic job as Nick's girlfriend--saucy, yet devoted, someone Nick can trust in and rely on, a rarity in his *other* field of work besides owning a jazz club.

The cinematography was superb, from creative Steadicam shots (walking through the narrow, narrow door to Nick's tool room in the intro, panning around cars) to fantastic reflection shots (the Customs House). Much emphasis is placed on smoky, atmospheric lighting, with shadows playing a crucial role in charater development (as Jack, Nick and Max talk, all three are equally cast in shadow so as not to single any one of them out as the potential "winner takes all").

The music is equally impressive, including solid, sultry jazz performances by Diana Krall, G Club, Cannonball Adderly, Cassandra Wilson, Thelonious Monk, Mose Allison, and others. Unfortunately, none of these songs are included on the "The Score" soundtrack. But they make the atmosphere of Nick's NYC Montréal Jazz Club spring to life--smoky lights and cool blue jazz as a contrast to the tense heist scenes.

All of the actors do incredible work with their roles, especially De Niro and Norton. Norton's double character of Brian/Jack was certainly a surprise. I did not think that he was being overly disrespectful to the mentally retarded--I have read reviews that stated it as such, but Jack was merely playing a role.

De Niro certainly appeared to be the tortured thief, torn between his wanting to settle down with Diane and run his jazz club and that one last shot at glory that he goes for time and time again. "How many times have you said that in 25 years?" asks Max (Brando) when Nick says he's quitting for the umpteenth time. But Frank Oz's masterpiece shows us his dilemna in the silences and the shadows that surround Nick.

The DVD interactive menus were user friendly and graphically impressive at the same time, starting off with an explosion of sparks accompanied by the sound of a watch ticking and counting down. I was a little disappointed with the "extra" features: a theatrical trailer, a director's commentary with Frank Oz and Rob Hahn (which did have its interesting moments, but like so many commentaries there are long stretches of silence and totally irrelevant information), the "making of" (which was more a recap of movie footage than actual "making of", and additional scenes (one improv with Brando and De Niro at the bar, an alternate coffee shop scene with Norton and De Niro and a longer scene with Mose Allison singing "City Home."

Minor gripes: De Niro and Brando's French---aaaarrgh. That's all I can say. I cringed, I covered my ears...I actually switched the audio to French and listened to most of the film that way. That is a neat feature seeing as the film *is* in Montréal, and some of the actors are francophone to begin with. The French dubbing was excellently done and followed very closely to the original script.

Lots of swearing, no nudity and no sex, some tense moments. The hacker character strongly reminded me of Burns Flipper from the PC game "The Longest Journey"--totally stressed out, mentally unstable, obsessed with technology and both were compulsive swearaholics.

"The Score" is a wonderful character/heist movie with a great setting (Montréal), a killer jazz soundtrack, and three generations of stellar acting talent (Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Edward Norton). If you're looking for something new, something with a smoky,mysterious atmosphere and genuine white-knuckle-remote-clenching tension, pick up "The Score"! (And then go visit Montréal to see the beauty of Vieux Montréal for yourself).


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