MovieChat Forums > Thief (1981) Discussion > Overlooked by so many

Overlooked by so many

posted 19 years ago by Lherb2121
33 replies | jump to latest

I just wanted to sing the praises of this far to overlooked film. It in many ways is superior in my opinion to Heat. Where that film feels almost to polished and hollywood, Thief is gritty and reaches a level of detail about the day to day hardships of leading a double life. I feel as an audience to both films a greater connection to the Caan in Thief than I do to DeNiro in Heat. He yearns for something more solid than simply taking down scores. It just feels right to me as opposed to Deniro's portrayal of this great machine almost who is hesitant to even look twice at someone who is not a part of his crew, a potential mark, or a threat. I don't even want to get into how useful Caan's performance in this is as an acting tool. Foe any wannabee actors out there, I suggest you purchase a copy of Thief today. It is a two workshop on how to grab hold of a part, story, film, and just having it under your control to the eventual benefit of the viewer. I praise both star and director on making one of the greatest overlooked films of the late twentieth century.

[–] Braggis 19 years ago

Completely agreed.

This film is one of the best crime-dramas ever realized. The heist scenes are breathtaking. The character study of several key characters, mostly Frank, is something perfectly blended with the story. The plot is pretty well-paced, and gives enough time to breathe. Even the shootout at the end is nice -- though I preferred the ending to the script. And this is James Caan's finest performance.

The only thing anyone ever detracts from is the music and score, which is a shame.

Thief is a cult-classic. A truly great film.

[–] cobram-1 19 years ago

The only thing anyone ever detracts from is the music and score, which is a shame.

Agreed, if the directors cut ever comes out, lets hope Mann dumps the hopelessly dated "Tangerine Dream", and adds a score on a level with his other great work, such as Crime Story or Miami Vice.

[–] jjmcdaddy2001 19 years ago

Couldn't disagree more, the music was one of the defining (and best) features.

[–] Lherb2121 19 years ago

Oh yeah. I mean it was a film set in an early eighties period. That music was spot on.

[–] dutch31709 19 years ago

I love the TG soundtrack - that contributes to the intensity of the film as much as anything. That and the stylized camerawork (which looks sleek even by todays standards) and the Chicago locations for filming.

[–] Hab_Anagharek 19 years ago

There is a Director's Cut, it's the Region 1 DVD.

I love this movie, it's James Caan's best performance, and sadly overlooked. My guess is because of MGM and United Artists; I think there were some financial problems and MGM/UA was eventually bought out. I think a lot of their films suffered because of it; Thief and To Live and Die in L.A. came and went at cinemas, but with ZERO home video or cable television, which could have saved them, like Terminator or Lethal Weapon. I don't think Terminator would be what it is today without home video and cable. Thief came out on VHS initially but was out-of-print for years and years until the mid 90s. This shouldn't have been!

[–] voice87 19 years ago

I first saw this movie when I was only a kid, sometime in the early eighties, and at that time it made a huge impression on me. I could only remember parts of the movie (and I still can), but I didn't exactly know the title of it. A couple of years ago I finally found out that is was 'Thief', and found the movie to be very impressing, still.

[–] ymmiT 19 years ago

'Thief' definately has one of my all time favorite endings. That gunfight is unmatched.. yes, Heat doesn't even come close!

[–] Hab_Anagharek 19 years ago

I agree, although Heat...kicks ass. But, the brutality of the ending of Thief is still disturbing to me. I guess cause it's so close and personal, in someone's house. Well done.

[–] bobadexter 19 years ago

Great Film! This is a real mans movie.

[–] nutsberryfarm 15 years ago

never seen it. going to. fan of 'heat'. if it doesn't come close? wow!

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"

[–] mtito14 19 years ago

Thief is truly a great movie...James Caan was perfect in this movie...It is a shame that this masterpiece was so overlooked...I would love to see a remake of this movie....

[–] Hab_Anagharek 19 years ago

Here we go again with the f@#$king remakes. Why?? Great movies need not be remade.

[–] Nexus07 19 years ago

Thief is truly a masterpiece, as is Heat. I've seen it 4 times so far, and every time I watch it, I find myself liking it more. I would say that this is due to a number of factors, from Mann's cinematic style and the story, to the performances and excellent soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. Having listened to the soundtrack isolated from the film, it holds up remarkably well on it's own, and still sounds great today. It seems that most people don't think Michael Mann did anything before Miami Vice in the mid-eighties, so Thief, along with The Keep (another excellent film) get overlooked. Very unfortunate.

[–] tghoneyc 19 years ago

I just watched it for the first time, and already this is one of the coolest movies I think I've ever seen. I'm a big Michael Mann fan and this is certainly the finest of his films that I have seen. That said, he is one of those directors who manages to keep making mostly good movies. This movie also makes me wonder what happened that James Caan didn't become more of a star after this movie? If anything these days he's a character actor (but then again, most of my favorite actors are that, but they don't all end up making bad direct-to-video movies).

[–] SillyPuddy 19 years ago

I agree with the poster who said that the music was the best feature of this film. This film is all style and very little substance. It really is a borefest and quite slow. Not sure why people heap this thing with praise and its clear to me why critics and viewers overlooked this when it came out. It is no "One False Move".

[–] lookoutjoe75 18 years ago

Definatley is one of the coolest movies ever

[–] dino-51 18 years ago

saw it when i was 19 and loved it. caan's acting is superb, and michael mann's directing is brillant.my opinion one of the best crime/drama's of all time! liked heat,but was to long.

[–] maverick-media 18 years ago

Absolutely a terrific movie! The whole thing is great, the script, direction, acting and soundtrack etc is all spot on. I love this movie more the more I watch it.

http://www.maverick-media.co.uk

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Cubs_Fan08 18 years ago

I just saw this for the first time, and I really enjoyed it. It reminded a lot of Mann's TV series "Crime Story."

"The following occurs between (time frame). Events occur in real time."

[–] Matthew_Diamond 12 years ago

Yeah, I agree, it's a great, hard-hitting and direct movie and you will be hard pressed to find anyone smiling in it because of it's total smack of reality. It is really too bad this film netted a loss for the producer.

------------------------
"I really don't like talking about my flair."

[–] Noir-It-All 12 years ago

I remember that When it came out Pres. Reagan and the Pope received assassination attempts. People shied away from this type of film as a result. I was on business in Chicago a lot - visiting hospitals in all sorts of areas - so I enjoyed the film on that basis. Plus, it had James Caan!

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] DracTarashV 12 years ago

I'm a bigger fan of Mann's later films, but regardless, this is one of his best.

[–] Max06 12 years ago

I'd never seen this movie until the other day. It had been referenced in some article about Drive as a direct influence on that movie. (I'd also seen Ryan O'Neal's The Driver recently, too.) So I looked Thief up and was immediately interested, being a fan of Michael Mann's work.

I liked this movie a lot; a lot more than Drive. James Caan is either a good or bad actor in my opinion. He was great in Thief, very tough and efficient. James Belushi was a good supporting character.

This will go in my list of favorites.

[–] bear022013-588-696101 11 years ago

There are no adjectives to do "Thief"any justice.

[–] Ceephax 12 years ago

Spot on, OP. Thief is perhaps the greatest crime/heist movie ever made in cinema history.

The characters are so fully drawn out and real, the heist scenes almost filmed like a documentary style, the score adds that sense of grit and night time atmosphere, James Caan's greatest ever performance not just of a lifetime, but also within the genre, plus it has an angle: one man's stubbornness to 'conform' to big industry, even within an illegal one.

Thief, simply put, is a masterpiece, and one of the greatest Hollywood crime films ever made.

[–] Bobby_vs_Satan 12 years ago

I agree, Heat is fantastic but De Niro plays someone who doesn't have any obvious flaws. He's so professional and together. I much prefer Caan's portayal of a very driven but flawed man as I would imagine many high profile, career criminals are. He's stubborn, short tempered, has no patience for achieving anything, feels desperate to make things happen, so he feels for him to survive the only way is through crime. I felt like I'm watching a real guy where De Niro, as entertaining as he is, makes me feel like I'm watching De Niro. Heat is beautiful in how slick it is but Thief feels more like real life, even as cinematic as the violence gets. The scene in the diner with Tuesday Weld is just pure brilliance from both of them. So well written and acted.

[–] Ceephax 12 years ago

The scene in the diner with Tuesday Weld is just pure brilliance from both of them. So well written and acted.

That scene is so perfectly acted, scripted and timed, with great chemistry that I honestly think it's the greatest ever scene with a criminal criticising the morals of what the every day person wishes to achieve and how Tuesday Weld's character views men who break the law in order to achieve some sort of goal, and Caan plays it with such conviction that you very nearly agree with him.

When he convinces Tuesday Weld, 100% believable.

I agree about De Niro as well, he was way too slick and in control, Caan played it with realism.

Caan's performance is better than Pacino and De Niro combined.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

One would very much expect a guy who runs such big time operations, to be "slick and control" (not to mention he ultimately wasn´t so flawless in his judgement after all as he would have likely gotten clear hadn´t he gone after Waingro despite knowing better, a move guided by emotions, not reason and clearly an unnecessary risk. And his battery of Waingro in a public place so soon after the score wasn´t necessarily very professional, either). And while Caan is quite excellent in Thief, I wouldn´t consider it as equal to Pacino´s and De Niro´s very best performances.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] MetalWorks 12 years ago

Agreed such a perfectly timed scene, you can feel the conversation flow like a tune