For me the only good parts of this movie are....

I do agree that the non-anamorphic DVD looks atrocious; perhaps you would take another look at the film in a few months via the recent Criterion blu-ray, which by all accounts is a thing of beauty.

The thing about Thief is texture. Mann is a real stickler for authenticity and (for my money) this film is where that obsessiveness provides the biggest payoff.

Look, say, at the scene in which Caan meets with the fence to sell the diamonds. The efficient way that they communicate, the language that they use (or even the way Caan avoids contractions and speaks in a hyper-deliberate way so as not to be misunderstood), the look of the fence (with something vaguely "sex offender" about him) -- not to go all "arts degree BS", but it all contributes to a tangible verisimilitude.

For me, the final twenty minutes of the film wouldn't be nearly as powerful if the preceding hour and a half didn't spend so much time and effort establishing Frank's world.

And how can someone not love watching Caan in this role? He's just terrific. Not to mention the score or the moody wet-streets-and-neon photography. And the entire supporting cast, with particular kudos for the late, great Robert Prosky.

I've been working my way through Richard Stark's Parker books lately, and while the character of Parker is a few degrees removed from Caan's Frank, they share an "all business" approach to their profession that one can't help but admire just a little. Who hasn't been annoyed at some point by the interference of the personal into the realm of the professional?

"I am self-employed; I am doing fine," says Frank. We believe him, even if the man he's talking to doesn't quite get the idea that Frank (like Parker) doesn't say anything that he doesn't have to. This man thinks Frank is just like him -- "reasonable", which Frank knows is just a euphemism for a man who's forced to live with compromise. For Frank, a deal's a deal, and he's got the skills and the moxie to see it through.

So live up to your end or face the natural consequences, regardless of what posh neighbourhood you happen to live in or how many legitimate business fronts you have.