Thief Reviews

Neon klepto-thriller

Set mostly at night or in the rain under the glow of neon this film contrasts the freedom of the lifestyle of our master safe thief with the captivity of the life of crime as he inexplicably gets involved with the Mafia and thinks he can drop them after one job.

Not a girls film at all but interesting to see Michael Mann develop a style he later explored in Miami Vice and films such as Heat.

Michael Mann's Lost Classic

Mann, director of Heat and Collateral, began his obsession with the world of the career criminal with this stunning film. Thief is about Frank, a man who by day runs a car dealership and several other businesses, but by night, is a proffesional gem thief.Frank loves his little sideline, and is very good at it. After taking down a safe in the opening scene, he passes the merchandise onto his fence, who then meets with an untimely demise at the hands of local mobster, Leo (Robert Prosky, who turns in a terrifying performance)Frank demands his money back, Leo folds and gives it back, but asks him to come and work for him, taking down scores as an employee.

What makes Frank take this risky decision is a sudden and logical need to go straight, find a woman, have kids and live a normal life. And in wanting this dream, he ends up paying dearly.

In an assured and astounding first feature, Mann opens up the neon lit, fast moving work of the career criminal for all to see and provides a thrilling and at times moving portrait of a man who is good at what he does, but just wants to be legit.

Yes, it's old. Yes it feels at times like a product of its time, but mix in James Caan's best performance he ever put on screen, superb support from Tuesday Weld, James Belushi & the aforementioned Robert Prosky, a superb and smart script and a story that gets better with every viewing, and Thief is a superb crime thriller.

Unengaging

The first 30 minutes are not very engaging and as a result my enjoyment of the film suffered. The sound is also very poor indeed which means you have to concentrate hard on the film rather than taking in the style of Mann's direction.

Highly recommended movie!

What really impressed me about this film was the cinematography. Michael Mann clearly loves the sprall of urban life, liking it to a palette from which he is able to paint a picture to surround his characters.

Thief, apart from being an exciting heist movie (And similarities are a plenty with this movie and Michael Mann's Heat), also works for me as a mirror on our everyday wants and desires. After all don't we all just yearn to live a comfortable life even sometimes giving an appraising wink to someone who attains that, even if not through wholly legal means.

brilliant

this is michael manns debut film( he also directed ALI, and the last of the mohicans) and its great . it has all the comman touches of his early work, atmosphere , and a cracking 80`s sound track. its more of a bloke film then anything else.

Thief (1981)

A film that takes a look at how difficult it is for individuals to achieve the simple things in life.

Customer Review

I've had a craze lately on Michael Mann's films, and I've enjoyed them all.

This is early work. It's not quite as satisfying as Heat or Collateral, but the style is there. Mann creates full portraits of characters - he doesn't just show them doing the testosterone-fuelled stuff, he shows them with their women and children. In this case he shows how a thief can have integrity. Rather like a highly-paid corporate job, it's just something he does until he can move on.

The ending doesn't quite work. It reminded me of Heat, but it didn't move me in any way.

awesome - mann and caan, better than mann and cruise :)

awesome - mann and caan, better than mann and cruise :)

awesome - mann and caan, better than mann and cruise :)

awesome - mann and caan, better than mann and cruise :)

awesome - mann and caan, better than mann and cruise :)

A film to miss!

I would rate it zero.

I have given it one star, but it is well below this!

This is the most awful film that I have seen in quite a while.

I watched it for 30min. then switched off!

Intelligent and stylish, though very dated.

Mann ranks as one of hollywoods smartest directors never choosing to do the automatic popcorn blockbuster, but always making strong charachter pieces with real depth. This is of course dated now, but as in later films like Heat, Mann explores the very 3 dimensional sides to a criminal, never justifying thre actions but allowing for the fact they are people, and have other things on there mind other than that one last score. His style is evident and certain script bits and shots end up in Heat and collateral, but this is him on shoe-string budget compared to what he's aloud to play with now, and so the action is thin. James Cann gives a strong performance and the film oozes style. Worth checking out if you want to see where Mann trained his craft.