Rating: 
Summary: Stolen by Green, Mos Def, Statham...and 3 Mini Coopers
Review: 'Italian Job' was a definite surprise for me - a lot better than I expected. Ostensibly starrring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Edward Norton, this movie is completely stolen by six co-stars, Mos Def, Jason Statham, (especially) Seth Green...and three Mini Coopers.Mos Def shows good comedic skills as explosives guy 'Left Ear.' Statham - of 'Lock, Stock...' and 'Snatch' fame - is suave and cool as wheelman 'Handsome Rob.' But Green is the scene-stealer here. As Wahlberg's computer expert, Green's movie-long rant about *he* was the true inventor of Napster is a pop-culture thing of beauty. [Nice little non-speaking cameo appearance by Shawn Fanning brings an added level of authenticity.] Green also provides the comedic highlight of the film - providing some private, imagined dubbing on a conversation/pick-up between Handsome Rob and a cable technician named Becky. It had the entire theater in hysterics. In regards to the Mini Coopers, this might be the best product placement in recent memory. The cars look fabulous here. The marketing value to BMW is incalcuable.
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice
Review: A very smart caper with a solid story line. Usually I watch a movie like this and have to patch over obvious weaknesses in the plot to enjoy it, but this movie seemed very well done. It wasn't the most original movie (ignoring that it's a remake of course) but it did have original foils and schemes as any movie of any genre should have. The opening scene is one of the best honey pot schemes I have seen in a while. Kudos to the cast, especially Seth Green, this is the first I've seen him play his type of character and he played it well. I'm a techie and I HATE it when a movie makes the "tech" guy ramble about irrelevant technical terms and bang loudly on a keyboard the whole time just to pass the point that "hey, this is the tech guy..."
Rating:
Summary: Excitement from start to finish!!
Review: I loved this movie! My husband wanted to see it because he is a BMW car fan, so we did. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the actors. Excitement, thrills, and a CLEAN movie for a change. I don't remember any dirty language or smut. Just Fun!!
Rating:
Summary: A Fun, Thrilling Movie!
Review: I saw this movie last week, not because I liekd the original (for I haven't seen it), but because "Finding Nemo" didn't appeal to me, it got a good review, it looked good, and had a great cast with Seth Green, Jason Statham, Edward Norton and others. It's a fast paced action movie about a very organized crime group who just stole millions of dollars in gold, but are betrayed by Norton's character and left for dead. But they survive, and then the movie really starts. It's about revenge, basically, and most of the movie focuses around them planning their revenge on Norton, but there's a lot more than that. It blends a lot of humour into it (most done by Seth Green, who's character claims that he was dorm mate with the "creator" of Napster, but the ide was his and his friend stole the disk with it while he was asleep). I suggest you see this if you're ANYONE, because it really enjoyable. (I don't have time for a much bigger review, but you can read the other ones...)
Rating: 
Summary: Best commercial for a Mini-Cooper I've ever seen!
Review: For your average popcorn flick, The Italian Job is pretty average. Let me first state that I'm a lover of heist/con flicks. I try to catch all that I can. Part of the fun of the movie is just seeing how they pull off the job. In this sense, The Italian Job is ok. Overall, the movie is predictable, but it's still fun watching these thieves do their job. The characters in the film are all cliche but you'll like em anyway. Seth Green's character, Napster (the supposed real inventor of the program) is my favorite. The cast is talented, but their performances feel very boxed in. I attribute this to the MTV video style directing that never lets any performances shine. Possibly the film's biggest flaw is the marketing. If you've seen the trailer to this film, you've seen the movie. I'm not kidding, it's basically a Cliff's Notes of the film. There's not a single surprise in store that the trailer doesn't reveal. It's really too bad, because watching the film I get a sense that some of the twists might have actually been surprising. The best thing I can say about the film is that it isn't bad. You'll be entertained, just not wowed! I don't feel like I wasted my money at the theatre, but I do think the film could have been much better. So if these kinds of movies are up your alley, catch a matinee, and see the best commercial for a BMW Mini ever made.
Rating:
Summary: when the old gets a face lift
Review: rather disturbing title, ain't it? oh well... it fits this movie though... in some ways. thing is, this remake of the 1969 comedy caper bears little resemblance to the original, except of course for the mini coopers, the car chase (kinda) and the characters (also sorta)... *shrugs* and the "italian" part is well... misleading coz the whole thing took place in los angeles. the first heist though, took place in venice (instead of turin in the original). enough of that. i love this movie. it's not the same as the original italian job, but what is? the michael caine vehicle is an unbelievable movie and i doubt that anything could ever top that one in it's originality, script and performance in the heist genre. that said, this 2003 remake is far from incompetent and god forbid, mediocre. i's a whole new different ball game, and it's well made with an excellent cast and great directing. ed norton plays the utterly slimy and oily villain who stole the gold from the team led by croker (wahlberg). in the process, he left them for dead and killed theron's father played by sutherland. they managed to track down norton, now living it up in LA, and it's payback time... this is really enjoyable. so many heist movies in recent memory failed to live up to their expectations, but even with a tough predecessor (the original italian job) this movie shines as one feel good escapade. some complained about the formulaic plot, but i think it's better to have a formulaic plot and still able to pull it off with great performance, directing and energy. after all, people go to the movies to be entertained. and you shall...
Rating: 
Summary: Not among the best actions-comedies
Review: We hate to admit it, but we love the action-comedy. "Bad Boys," "Die Hard," and "True Lies" can all be called guilty pleasures. Another genre that has come into fashion recently in the heist or caper flick, where a stylish yet motley crew of thieves follow their charismatic leader to bull off what is always "One Last Job". The charismatic leader of the group is Charlie Croker (Mark Walberg, in a performance that gives a new definition to the term 'dry-read'). The rest of this crew are equally as predictable; there's the computer guy who can hack into anything, the demolitions guy, the womanizing wheelman, and the veteran thief and safecracker in it for "one last job" played by Donald Sutherland. Rounding out the crew is Steve Frezelli (Edward Norton) the only member of the crew that has no discernable talent, which makes him the prime suspect in any double cross. The real story of this movie is the Ed Norton had to do it, because he had signed a multi-film deal with the studio, and the studio was threatening legal action. You can tell because he gives one of the most uninspired performances of his career. Mark Walberg is never believable for a minute as the charismatic leader of his crew. The jokes, which admittedly are funny in a corny way, are too rapid fire for the audience to take the action part seriously, but are not funny enough for this to be a fulfilling comedy. I kind of wish the filmmakers went completely overboard and made a self mocking action movie like "The Boondock Saints." But the film always tries to keep one foot in the land of credibility and it just doesn't work because I was never invested in this movie or the characters at all. I wouldn't have cared if at any time during the movie everybody dropped dead. The movie feels like an excuse to get as many mini-coopers into a film as possible. The sound editors made these mini's sound like fire breathing tractor-trailers, not like the hamster wheel engines that Mini's actually are equipped with. That said, the stunt driving makes for the most engaging sequences in the movie. And that's saying something. All in all I can't say that the movie is bad, it's just in no way good.
Rating:
Summary: Great Heist
Review: Even though this movie isn't as good as the almighty Ocean's Eleven, The Italian Job is one of the best movies that I've seen in a while, if not ever. After their friend betrayed them during a job in Venice, Mark Whalberg, Jason Statham, Mos Def, and Seth Green decide to get even with the traitor (Edward Norton). They enlist the help of Charlize Theron, who plays the daughter of Donald Sutherland, the beloved leader of the group that Norton killed in Venice. Theron is the safe cracker, Green is the computer whiz, Statham the driver, Def (coincidence that his character is half-deaf?) is surveillance, and Whalberg is the planner. The jokes in the movie are wonderful. They are sarchastic, witty, and timed correctly. The plot, for the most part, makes sense, but there are a few problems, such as the subplot with the Ukranian guys, but I guess that at the end, they were somewhat necessary. Also, Green's Napster references were kind of cheesy, but what are you going to do? This is a great movie. I guarantee that you will like it.
Rating:
Summary: "We'll do it like the Italian Job."
Review: Strange that they called this one the Italian Job, since it has little in common with the caper classic it was named after. All the two movies really have in common is stolen gold and Austin Minis. The plot of this movie is really about the oldest trick in the book. The double cross. In an attempt to put a new spin on that old plot, the creators of this movie decided to have the double cross very early in the film. After a somewhat interesting heist, the gang responsible for it is betrayed by one of their own and their gold stolen. This basically makes the rest of the movie our lovable band of thieves (and very well cast for the most part I might add) getting back the loot that they rightfully stole. This early plot twist might have made for a more interesting movie had the best actor in the film (Donald Sutherland) not been killed off in the process. Don't you just hate it when that happens? You're a Good Man Charlie Brown Our main character Charlie is played by Mark Wahlberg. Now don't get me wrong, he's a likable enough fellow. And he seems to do best playing the nice guy in films. But he really doesn't do much in the way of acting in any of the films I've seen him in. If there was one actor who could be replaced by a cardboard cut-out without anyone noticing, it would be him. I seriously cannot remember him saying one memorable line in the entire film. Perhaps it's because he said them all the same... The Cast's the Thing Well even though our main character isn't exactly Hamlet, does that make our film derail completely? No, no, no. For he is supported by a fine cast in the grand old tradition of caper films. Seth Green (the REAL Napster), is totally hilarious in this film. Sure, we've all seen a supposedly brillaint hacker in films before, but somehow he just rises above into new levels of geek parody. And then there's my man Jason "The Transporter" Statham. This guy has just got "the Driver" and "Action Star" written all over him. He's like the new Steve McQueen of Caper and driving movies. He's too darn cool. In fact, my favorite scene in the movie is one where he steps out of the car to sweet talk a girl into giving him exactly what he needs, and Seth Green (the often stereotyped super-nerd hacker genius) starts imitating both the voice of the girl and Statham's voice. Now that's funny! And then of course we have our love-interest safe-cracker (and the daughter of the guy who got iced), and the required demolition expert. Everyone does a pretty good job in their roles, but no one else really stands out in my mind. Get Some Action For all the hype and popcorn popping, you'd think the minis were going to be flying down the streets of L.A. in long, extended, over-the-top driving sequences. Sorry guys, but the driving action simply ain't all that. The Bourne Identity has got a way better chase scene than this movie. So does The Transporter. Heck, so does Gone in 60 Seconds. If that's all you're interested in, by all means, rent one of those. All in All I'd say this movie is worth seeing once, especially if you particularly like any of the cast members or love caper-flicks. It's also suprisingly low in violence, sex, and foul-language, something of a rarity in popcorn flicks these days.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Caper with some Great Action Scenes
Review: Several of the early Amazon reviews adequately describe this film (as does Stephen Holden's surprisingly favorable review in the...New York Times).....Thus, this review will not comment in detail on the plot or the cast, but instead will try to furnish some additional observations and some insights about the nature of this movie. This is a caper film for moviegoers who like action including the usual chase scenes (including speedboats through the Venice canals) combined with sophisticated technology and the usual quota of misdirection and complications to be overcome. It actually opens with the initial heist of $35 million of gold bullion; the main elements involve the falling out of the conspirators and the plans for revenge and reclamation of the bullion after its subsequent theft. There is very little character development except for three of the conspirators. Donald Sutherland has a crucial but much too brief role for one of my favorite actors as John Bridger, an aging pro who is handing on his expertise to his young protege Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg). Edward Norton is almost perfect as the shallow Steve Frezelli, the member of the group who is in it solely for the money and is unfazed by any code of honor among thieves. (Almost like a reprise of his character in THE SCORE.) In a great twist, he defines himself by his posseessions but can't even come up with anything original to purchase with the loot. Last, Seth Green is greaty as Lyle the techno-geek whose expertise is crucial to the robberies and who wants to be known as The Napster, since he claims that the Napster technology was stolen from him by his college roommate while he was taking a nap. The rest of the characters are quite well cast but pretty unidimensional, and the romantic elements are almost nonexistent but fortunately are not central to the story. A nice twist was the similarities in the methodology employed in the two major heists, and the use of technology was actually quite clever. My wife and I both enjoyed this movie more than we expected that we would, there are enough plots twists and misdirection to keep it enjoyable and as well as a reasonable amount of tension on occasion. We also thought that the use of the mini Coopers as in the original version with Michael Caine was both a nice touch and worked great both as a plot device and in the theft and chase finale. The one caveat that I would like to emphasize is the limited amount of character development. Thus, it is more like OCEANS ELEVEN in this respect, and less like the recently released THE GOOD THIEF. In this regard, it also stands in sharp contrast to three of my favorite films of this genre, THE SCORE with the wonderful roles and interaction of Brando and DeNiro (along with Angela Bassett's brief appearance) and both the original THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (Steve McQueen And Faye Dunaway) and the remake with Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo, which in all instances incorporated a great plot based on a heist but were about the characters and their goals, self images and relationships combined with an important romantic overlay. Thus, while this was a fun flick that will be enjoyable for an occasional viewing, it only deserves four stars in my opinion. Those three are all five star classics that should never grow stale.
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