The Italian Job ~ Lean-N-Mean2 Style

Talk about a dream cast. The Italian Job has got to be one of the best movies of the year. It's going on my list, that's a fact.

Depending on who you ask, Italian Job is either a remake of the Peter Collinson movie from 1969, or a whole new movie with salutes to the orignal. Either way, this is just a damn good film.

I trust everyone. It's the devil inside the person I don't trust.

A group of accomplished thieves have stolen a safe full of 35 million in gold in the most dramatic way. One of the group double crosses them and thinks he has killed them all and is home free with the gold. Think again. The rest of the film is this group getting their revenge, and their gold back. This involves lots of explosions and car chases.

Just flat out excellent on all counts. There is no star here, the ensemble cast worked together like the pros that they are. Allow me to cheat rather than go over each one individually....

Mark Wahlberg .... Charlie Croker
Charlize Theron .... Stella Bridger
Donald Sutherland .... John Bridger
Jason Statham .... Handsome Rob
Seth Green .... Lyle
Mos Def .... Left Ear
Edward Norton .... Steve

Must I list their prior credits? I think not. You know them, you love them... or you will after watching this one. Statham is every bit as dashing as he was in The Transporter, Norton tops even his 25th Hour role, Sutherland is just remarkable in everything he does, Wahlberg plays the same congenial guy he did in What About Charlie, and Charlize Theron is one of those rare gorgeous babes that has no need to rely on her looks alone.

Together they tear up some screen.

These guys even did the majority of their own stunts, including the car chases. You'll find lots of great Special Features on this DVD which explain how they went to driving school, and trained with real safe crackers. Amazing. They learned well.

There's three things you don't trust; mother nature, mother in-laws and, mother freaking Ukrainians!

There are very few movies in life that I would deem to be flawless. This is one of them. F. Gary Gray just did an amazing job at every aspect of direction in this. From gorgeous Italy to closing down Sunset Blvd for filming in L.A., everything is just breathtaking. This was absolutely the best man for the job.

The Italian Job runs 111 exciting minutes and is Rated PG-13 for violence and some language. I say any age.

Don't bother renting this one. Buy it straight out. You won't be sorry.


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This has been a part of Sleeper54's second annual Lean-N-Mean write-off, where we are challenged to write a review using less than 666 words. Great fun! Do join.... Books cannot be allowed to win 2 years in a row..

See all the entries here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3600982148