"The Italian Job"

[cstephens]

We'd seen the one-sheets for this film and nothing had particularly called out to us, but we saw a trailer for the film a couple of weeks ago, and it looked really good, so we went yesterday. We had a wonderful time. It's a great action film, with a few spectacular chase sequences (including one in boats through the canals of Venice, Italy), and there is a lot of intelligent twists and turns in the film as well. It's also full of humour and other cool things. I'm not a particular fan of Mark Wahlberg, but he was excellent, as was Edward Norton, who apparently is only playing anti-heroes, from what I can tell. Charlize Theron is really good as well, and it's actually a really good woman's role - she gets to do real stuff, not just sit around and look pretty, though I expect the men will think she does that just fine as well.

Oh, and it's a great commercial for the Mini. Those cars never did anything for me, but I almost want one now if they can really do all those nifty things.

I didn't know until yesterday that it's a remake of a film, though I understand the original film isn't that great.

A definite recommend.

[EandCDad]

Things about Cstphens review I agree with:

It's a good movie and very fun to watch.
Good twists.
Spectacular chase scenes, I liked the car chase more than the boat chase. It doesn't make me wanna buy those cars, but still.
Great humor, especially by the three real stars of the movie, Mos Def, Seth Green, and Jason Startham.
Chalize Theron is very, very, very, very easy on the eyes. Very. She can crack my safe anytime. She has a pretty good role.


Things I didn't quite agree with:
Whalberg was ok, nothing special, part of that was his role as the straight man/center of the whole thing. He let his three supporting players get all the laughs, which was the right thing.

Norton had a few moments, but he seemed to go to the Snydley Whiplash school of movie villans. I expected him to twist the end of his mustache while delivering his lines.

[Alex S.]

Originally posted by EandCDad
and Jason Startham.


If you didn't see it, you might consider catchign The Transporter on DVD. Stratham, through sheer screen force turns this very bad movie (hint: the director does not speak the same language as his two stars, and his two stars do not speak the same language as each other) into an entertainingly bad movie.

[innerSpaceman]

Which one was Jason?


This was a highly entertaining heist movie, with enjoyable performances, fun action, and quite a few laughs. On remake No. 3 in a row, Wahlberg finally scores a winner. Though, as has been pointed out, he's really just the straight man here.

I'd like to see the original (which, by the way, also featured the Mini Cooper prominently). I hear it's not as good a film, but has a much better ending.

If you're in the Hollywood area, the film is currently (as of 6/3) playing in the glorious Chinese Theater. It would be a hoot to see it here, because a big part of the finale action set piece was filmed on the street right in front of the theater - - and you can visit "the set" right after the show!

[Lani]

Originally posted by innerSpaceman
Which one was Jason? This guy (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Statham,%20Jason) -- he was a total hunk in the Transporter. Rowr and a half.

He played "Handsome Rob" in the Italian Job.

[ashleyfan]

And watch for the cameo by Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning, too! I wonder why Paramount decided to make Edward Norton honor his contract by appearing in this film. He didn't want to do it, has done no publicity, and bad-mouthed it publicly, saying something like he didn't want his fans to see it. I don't know about you, but I really don't like celebrities. I love movies and CD's, but I can't stand the people who make them.