Product Description

AFTER A MASTER THIEF LOSES HIS HEIST IN A DOUBLE-CROSS, HE &HIS TEAM SET OUT TO RE-STEAL THE LOOT BY CREATING THE LARGEST TRAFFIC JAM IN LA HISTORY.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2095 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2003-10-07
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 111 minutes

Amazon.com
Though it bears little resemblance to the original 1969 thriller starring Michael Caine, the 2003 remake of The Italian Job stands on its own as a caper comedy that's well above average. The title's a misnomer--this time it's actually a Los Angeles job--but the action's just as exciting as it propels a breezy tale of honor and dishonor among competing thieves. Inheriting Caine's role as ace heist-planner Charlie Croker, Mark Wahlberg plays straight-man to a well-cast team of accomplices, including Mos Def, Jason Statham, and scene-stealer Seth Green in a variation of the role originally played by Noel Coward. As the daughter of Croker's ill-fated mentor (Donald Sutherland), Charlize Theron is recruited to double-cross a double-crosser (Edward Norton in oily villain mode), and once again, speedily versatile Mini Coopers play a pivotal role in director F. Gary Gray's exhilarating car-chase climax. It's perhaps the greatest product placement in movie history, and just as fun the second time around. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Edward Norton, pulling his chin down and showing off a mean spot of beard, acts the mild and recessive Mark Wahlberg off the screen in this elaborate international heist movie about bad and good gold thieves. As a piece of summer-season craftsmanship the movie is fine: the camera rises majestically over the Dolomites, and in Venice, speedboats churn up the canals and head into blind turns. There's a dangerous-looking chase in which a small black helicopter hovers right over a car in the streets of Los Angeles, and the director F. Gary Gray uses a fleet of buzzing, squared-off Minis extremely well, shooting the tiny cars into a subway tunnel just ahead of a train, making them jump and spin and flip like toys. Don't expect much more, however, than a pleasant workout. Seth Green and Mos Def are very funny in minor roles. With the creamy Charlize Theron as the daughter of master criminal Donald Sutherland. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

"I liked him, right up until the moment I shot him."
Well done! Now THIS is what I call a popcorn movie. No big drama, no great life issues; just a fun plot, great action, and good looking people packing the screen. "The Italian Job", a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine flick, is cinema escapism at its best and a great bet for a Friday night date.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Charlie, acting head of a gang of high-tech, high class thieves. He's taking over for his mentor (played by the always welcome Donald Sutherland) as his team sets up a brilliant scheme for $35,000,000 in gold bars (the "Italian Job" of the title).
But things don't go quite as planned, and one year later Charlie reassembles his mates, plus his mentor's daughter (Charlize Theron) to take revenge on the man who betrayed them and set things right once and for all.

The action here is splendid, imaginative and well filmed. The script is tight, with plenty of snappy lines to go around (including a great running gag about just who invented Napster) and the musical score is surprisingly nice. All the actors have fun with their roles, especially Seth Green as a computer geek and Edward Norton as the slimy bad guy. And of course there's Wahlberg.

I like Mark Wahlberg. I can't help it. I like him more with every movie he makes. I like his quiet, confident walk, his little boy smile, and the way his forehead crinkles whenever somebody yells at him. He seems to actually get better looking as the movie goes along, and his chemistry with Theron is low-key but sexy.

I give "The Italian Job" five stars not because it was a masterpiece, but because I had a great time and know the film will hold up well with future viewings (it was a lot like "Ocean's Eleven" in this regard). Go on and see it; you'll like it. And probably want a Mini when you get out.

GRADE: A-

(By the way, I LOVED the way our heroes never carried guns or shot anybody. Old school baby!)

Perfect summer movie
"The Italian Job" is your classic summer movie: one villain, one hero, one beautiful intelligent woman, one computer geek, one ladies' man, one explosive expert, shake, stir, add a bunch of car chases, a few last-minute surprises, voila. The story is about a group of master thieves led by Donald Sutherland cleverly steal $35 million in gold bars from a safe in Venice, only to have it stolen again. The group must pursue the villain to get the gold back, using Mission-Impossible style technology and an enormous amount of wit.

Two things raise this far above its genre: absolute super settings: a boat chase through, under, and around Venice; a set of tricked-out Mini-Cooper cars vrooming through the sewer pipes of LA like kids through a water slide. Really fine performances: Donald Sutherland as the patriarch of the thieves, Seth Green (Scott Evil from the Austin Powers movies) as the funny computer geek, and the supremely creepy Edward Norton as the villain. Only Mark Wahlberg fails to project much of a personality.

The thing I appreciated most is that none of the action was faked by computer: it's just good old-fashioned stunt-driving. It's really pretty impressive (it's 'actually happening'); as much as you might have liked this summer's Matrix movie, this one is at least as thrilling because it's 'real.'

"We'll do it like the Italian Job."
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.