Plot
A jewel thief's nephew is sent along on a heist to ensure a longtime partner in crime stays honest about the division of the loot.
Release Year: 2001
Rating: 6.5/10 (19,291 voted)
Critic's Score: 66/100
Director:
David Mamet
Stars: Gene Hackman, Rebecca Pidgeon, Danny DeVito
Storyline David Mamet takes this story of thieves along many twists and turns, some of which work and some of which don't. Gene Hackman plays the brilliant leader of a gang (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay & Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife), which pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewelry robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his nephew (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. No one trusts anyone and every step is shaded with the unexpected.
Cast: Gene Hackman
-
Joe Moore
Danny DeVito
-
Mickey Bergman
(as Danny Devito)
Delroy Lindo
-
Bobby 'Bob' Blane
Sam Rockwell
-
Jimmy Silk
Rebecca Pidgeon
-
Fran Moore
Ricky Jay
-
Don 'Pinky' Pincus
Patti LuPone
-
Betty Croft
(as Patti Lupone)
Alan Bilzerian
-
Fast Food Customer
Richard L. Friedman
-
Counterman
Robert Lussier
-
Fast Food Cook
Mark Camacho
-
Jewelry Store Guard
Michelle Sweeney
-
Waitress
Elyzabeth Walling
-
Jewelry Saleswoman
Mike Tsar
-
Coffee Cart Man
(as Mike Tsarouchas)
Jim Frangione
-
D.A. Freccia
Taglines:
Love makes the world go 'round... Love of Gold.
Opening Weekend: $7,823,521
(USA)
(11 November 2001)
(1891 Screens)
Gross: $23,483,357
(USA)
(23 December 2001)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Gene Hackman mentioned in several interviews that he found shooting the film difficult and somewhat uncomfortable because he was so much older than everyone involved. He therefore kept much to himself, and in the end managed to draw on that feeling of being an outsider in the group for his portrayal.
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
The Massachusetts State Trooper who pulls over to inspect the phony "work site", asks Joe Moore if he called "K Barracks" to receive a police detail for the job. There are no "K Barracks" in the Mass State Police. There are seven field Troops in Massachusetts (A, B, C, D, E, H, and F) which are named by letter. Barracks are always called by a letter and number combination i.e. H-4 is the Boston Lower Basin Barracks. If the location is supposed to be close to Logan Airport the appropriate Troop letter to refer to would have been F, and the Trooper would have referred to it as "F Troop", not "F Barracks".
Quotes: Bergman:
I hate to do anything as dramatic as count to three but one, two, three.
User Review
Opinion of a "Heidi Motherf***er"
Rating:
This movie has one twist too many. The actual heist is so complicated
that the desired tension sags earlier than it should. Heist has nothing
of the suspense of a Hitchcock thriller, and trying to outwit your
opponent gets boring after a while when you start forgetting what it is
all about. There are some nice scenes around the airport though, some
memorable dialogue ("everybody needs money, that's why it's called
money"), and it's always fun to watch great professionals like Hackman,
Rockwell and DeVito. Mamet's stock actor Ricky Jay adds flavour to the
movie as usual, Rebecca Pigeon's part was ungrateful to play and
somehow superfluous.
Hackman and his boys are doing The Swiss Job. Some old and newer
clichés of my country pop up, viewers here were amused. And, believe
me, the Swiss are always pleased when someone across the Atlantic
acknowledges their mere existence, in whatever way this is done. Well,
I have to go now: It's time to wind up my cuckoo-clock and to put a
second lock on my own private stash of gold bullions.
0