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The Italian Job........

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Chris Garrett

I saw the midnight show last night and it was pretty packed. Sat in the second row, so not ideal. I don't recall the seeing the original with Michael Caine (?) so it was fresh for me.
It starts out quickly with a kind of "mission impossible" heist that is enjoyable from an action and technical POV. Then after this 20 minute stretch, it kind of sputters for character development, which isn't a bad thing from a film making aspect, but I think that the pacing slows a bit to much and maybe there's too much lovey-dovey going on--too much foreplay. Marky Mark plays it stoically, but the chemistry between he and Ms. Theron is a bit cardboardy tasting. Seth Green's character, while not Q from James Bond fame, gets some good laughs and the guy from Transporter "handsome Harry" does a nice pick-up move and is good for a couple of laughs.
This leads up to the planning and implementation of the 'payback' and final heist. We've got some technical info and some decent action going on and while predictable, it's not too offensive. The car chases with the now 'famous' Mini-Coopers are OK, certainly no Ronin, but not too bland. Being small and nimble has its privileges.
Anyway, if you have to see something this week and you don't want comic books, a cartoon about fish or freeze frame kung fu up the ass, then this is worthy of a couple of hours and $8.
Chris

Follow Ups:

Re: The Italian Job........ - carbonman 22:35:14 06/02/03 (0)
It was a fun movie. More serious than the original IIRC, but still worth seeing. The safe openings were hokey. I worked for 13 years as a commercial locksmith and rarely drilled a box without pulling the dial to get at the wheel pack first. A truly expert safe tech can open a TL30 safe in something under 30 minutes, but nobody can pop a burglary chest in 4 or 5 minutes. As far as manipulating the combination, it works (I love doing it, it's NOT a casual undertaking) but requires a lot of focus and quiet concentration.
I'll bet the BMW service shops are going to be doing a lot of Mini suspension and undercarriage repairs this summer! I wonder how many of them were totalled during filming.
Cheers,
Graham
"Blue meters, big watts. This must be Heaven!"
Re: The Italian Job........ - Hawklord 21:05:07 05/31/03 (1)
I have only seen the trailers. So tell me did they give too much away when they show the armored truck suffering the same fate as the safe?
- Bigger is better, in this case......... - Chris Garrett 17:35:45 06/01/03 (0)
  that was impressive, but maybe not so much so when you see that safe dropping through like three floors. Great method, IMO.
  Chris
Re: The Italian Job........ - gware 18:35:49 05/31/03 (0)
the original isn't light on entertainment either; one of my favorite Michael Caine films
Eric

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