The Good Theif
Bob (Nick Nolte) is a gambling and heroin addict who has just lost his last dime in Paris. Caught in a downward spiral that’s sure to end in a prison sentence, Bob is propositioned by an old friend to pull off a rare painting heist in a large casino located in Monte Carlo. Sensing that this is his last chance for success, Bob quits both his habits cold turkey and focuses on the complicated burglary plans. While pulling together a ragtag group (including filmmaker Emir Kusturica) to handle the details, Bob keeps his eye on the local cop (Tcheky Karyo, “The Core“) who’s tailing him, and Anne (Nutsa Kukhanudze), a teenaged Russian girl who can’t be trusted with the secrets that every man wants to willingly give her.
Heist pictures are a dime a dozen recently, but Neil Jordan’s “The Good Thief” (a remake of the 1955 film “Bob le flambeur”) sets itself apart from the pack with its colossal grittiness. This isn’t a film about slick, well dressed young men running around pulling off confidence games with the latest in high-tech gadgets. “Thief” is about small time losers, whores, and former heroin addicts who have hit rock bottom, and have no other choice but to believe in the big score. “Thief” isn’t a film based around twists and turns either. While they do play a part in the story, Jordan keeps the games to minimum. He’s more interested in the procedural tones of the heist, and the characterizations of the participants. Jordan himself has been on an unlucky streak with a handful of well-intentioned, but financially disappointing projects (“In Dreams, “ The Butcher Boy“). “Thief” certainly doesn’t represent Jordan’s heart, but it does showcase his gift for telling a tall tale.
“The Good Thief” crackles with tension and delight as Jordan writes his characters in a heightened manner. The dialog is quick and playful, which can be a detriment when it comes into contact with the picture’s global cast (who, at the very least, attempt to speak English), and Nolte’s own brand of pure, uncut mumble. Jordan also forgoes typical slickness with this picture. He bathes the cast in such incredible shadows and grain, that you almost beg the screen to give you a close-up in which you can actually see a face clearly. The goal is to lend a noir-ish feel to the proceedings, backed with appropriate Leonard Cohen and Bono songs that set the mood nicely, and the mission is accomplished, with the audience feeling Bob’s underbelly journey wholeheartedly.
“Thief” represents Nick Nolte’s first role since his unfortunate arrest last fall on drug charges. It’s a little morbid that this role requires Nolte to play an addict, and it should be no surprise that’s he’s great in the film. Turning down the volume on his normal amplified rage routine, Nolte holds “Thief” together with his first subtle performance in years. He’s backed by great cast, but the eyes always seem to find Nolte in every frame he’s in (that is until a cameoing Ralph Fiennes shows up to steal some scenes).
Also of interest is Nutsa Kukhanudze as the Russian femme fatale. Though she speaks in a dull Russian drone, and has peculiar bowl haircut for a man killer, Kukhanudze radiates sexiness from every pore. She’s the flame that heats “The Good Thief” when the film becomes bogged down in details, and her performance appears to come out of nowhere. Like Nolte, she attracts attention by merely standing still. An interesting English-language debut for the young actress.
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The heist film genre is getting awfully tired, but here’s “The Good Thief” to show that there still is life is these dark corners of the gambler’s heart.
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