|
The Italian Job (2003)
In F. Gary Gray's remake of the original 1969 British
heist film (with Michael Caine):
- the opening sequence - a daring Venice heist of
gold bullion by a group of high-class thieves, involving an exciting
boat-chase; the entire 'Italian Job' was supervised by retiring
life-long professional safecracker-criminal John Bridger (Donald
Sutherland)
- the advice offered in dialogue by John Bridger to
fellow mastermind-thief Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) about two
kinds of thieves in the world: ("You know, Charlie, there are
two kinds of thieves in this world: the ones who steal to enrich
their lives, and the ones who steal to define their lives. Don't
be the latter. Makes you miss out on what's really important in this
life"); then Bridger questioned his own fatherhood: ("Sitting
in prisons doesn't make you a good father. I spent half my kid's
life in prison. Don't get to be my age with nothin' but this, Charlie.
Find somebody you want to spend the rest of your life with and hold
onto her forever")
|
|
John Bridger: Speech About Values in Life
|
- the double-crossing betrayal of Steve Frazelli (Edward
Norton), one of the thieves, who turned traitorous on his own partners
in crime on a road near the group's secluded retreat in the Alps
- he murdered John Bridger, and then absconded with all of the
gold bullion from the Venice heist, and fled to Los Angeles
|
|
Confrontation Scene Between Steve (l) and Charlie
(r)
|
- a year later in Los Angeles, the confrontational
scene in a restaurant when Charlie alerted the calculating, devious
and paranoid Steve Frazelli (Edward Norton) to the fact that his
gang were going to vengefully re-steal the gold bullion, after
being double-crossed and betrayed in Europe; Steve claimed that
he had already laundered most of the gold bricks in LA, and that
Charlie had blown any element of surprise: ("That gold is
already gone....No, really, it's over Charlie. I'm trying to move
the last two bricks. You want to come after me over a couple of
lousy bricks? I mean, really, be my guest. But you're off to a
bad start, you know? 'Cause you just blew the best thing you had
going for ya. You just blew the element of surprise"); Charlie
abruptly punched out Steve, asked: "Surprised?", and
then added: "It's over when I say it's over"
- the character of reluctant, fellow expert safecracker
Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), John Bridger's estranged daughter,
who agreed to aid Steve and his gang
- the amazing action sequences that snarled traffic
in downtown Los Angeles - during the vengeful attempt to recapture
the gold from Steve's LA mansion; the plan began with the overhead
view of a trio of Mini Coopers (red, white, and blue) driving down
the sidewalk of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and careening down stairs
to enter an LA Metro subway station and rail tunnel; in a race to
get to the tracks, they had to speed past a Metro train with only
seconds to spare; afterwards, the group of vehicles retreated from
gunmen on motorcycles, and navigated through the narrow storm drain
tunnels or tubes into a Los Angeles River bed, where they also had
to evade Steve piloting a helicopter in the air and race through
a pre-planned Los Angeles traffic jam
- the concluding celebratory montage of Croker's team
enjoying the fruits of their newfound wealth: getaway driver Handsome
Rob's (Jason Stratham) Aston Martin car ("Handsome Rob got his
Aston Martin"), hearing-impaired demolitions expert "Left
Ear"'s (Mos Def) dream house ("Left Ear got his dream house
in the south of Spain with a room just for his shoes"), computer
techie-hacker Lyle's (Seth Green) fame and powerful audio speakers
("Lyle finally made the cover of Wired Magazine...And
he got that kick-ass stereo he wanted...with speakers so loud they'd
blow a woman's clothes off"), and Croker's love and respect
from Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron): ("And me? I took John
Bridger's advice. I found somebody I want to spend the rest of my
life with and I'm gonna hold on to her forever")
|
Venice Boat-Chase During Heist
Heist of Bars of Gold Bullion in Underwater Safe
Double-Cross Murder of Bridger by Steve
Stella Bridger
(Charlize Theron)
Trio of Mini Coopers
Racing in Tunnels
Evading Steve's Helicopter
|