30 Second Bottom Line: A jazz club owner, who moonlights as a high tech burglar, decides to do one last job. In addition to the complex relationships he has with his partners in crime, the woman in his life will live with him if his only job is managing his nightclub.

Story Line: The film opens as Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) is breaking into a high tech safe in a mansion under the cover of a big party with loads of people and lots of noise. Just about when he's ready to leave, into the room comes a couple ready to make love. He manages to get away, but just barely. Even though he's smart and highly skilled, there's always the element of chance, which can lead to imprisonment.

Nick's real passion is his jazz club in Montreal, where cameo performances by Cassandra Wilson and Mose Allison give this Mission Impossible style drama a touch of reality. This helps to make the rest of the events seem possible.

When Nick presents his stolen jewelry to Max Baron (Marlon Brando), his employer and fence, he learns that the moneyman who was supposed to pay him for it is now deceased. To make matters worse, Max does not have a replacement buyer. What he does have is an inside contact at the customs house where a rare, centuries old scepter is stored that would fetch enough to pay Nick $6 million for stealing it. Nick is ready to retire from the business in part because his flight attendant girlfriend Diane (Angela Bassett) will not move in with him unless he quits his criminal escapades. She makes it clear that she will not be worrying about having to talk to him through a glass partition.

One of Nick's rules is that you "Don't piss in your own pool," so he's very reluctant to pull a job in his hometown at the highly secure Montreal Customs House. Part of the motivation for Max is that he's in debt and needs this big heist to make things right. He urges Nick to do this one last job so they both can retire from the business.

Brian (Edward Norton) is Max's inside contact, who works as a janitor in the customs building. He has the building blueprints, including the underground sewer system, and knows where the scepter is being held. To get to the locked area will require getting into the building through tunnels and being able to disarm the security system at strategic times.

Brian has people overlook him because he assumes the role of a mentally handicapped worker. Because of this the guards and co-workers tend to dismiss his odd behavior, which includes being in certain places where he does not belong.

Brian and Nick don't get along and when Nick sends his bodyguard to teach him a lesson, we find that Brian is not the lightweight bozo that he appears. Eventually Nick is convinced to give it a try and the game plan is set in motion.

Tell Me More About It: At the time of writing this review, I could not find the outstanding soundtrack for the film. I'm hopeful that I will soon and I'll put a link at the top of the page so you can learn more about it.

If you like De Niro in action films, be sure to check out 15 Minutes and Ronin. Of the three films, this is the best one. While this may not be a masterpiece caper, it's certainly the best one to come along in quite a while.

De Niro delivers his expected intensity without speeches, glaring eyes or flaring nostrils. Norton more than holds his own as he plays along side Brando from one generation and De Niro from another. Add in the always-elegant Angela Bassett, and the film becomes almost magical just looking at the talent on the screen. In one scene, the lighting on Brando is reminiscent of his role in Apocalypse Now. Brando does not overact; he is so smooth that you are amazed that he can play just a regular bad guy.

Both Brando and Bassett have limited time on screen in the film as they set up the main characters of De Niro and Norton. The real action and character interplay in the film comes during the big heist while Norton is at work maneuvering DeNiro's movements through the underground tunnels via electronic device and tracking security camera angles.

Both Nick and Brian are hustler slicksters who deliver some unexpected surprises at the end. The Score is a film that works on multiple levels; it scores in acting, the look of the production, story, suspense and even a touch of comedy. If it were not for the fact that this is Nick's "one last job," I'd be rooting for a sequel.

Robert De Niro: 15 Minutes	Edward Norton: Keeping the Faith
Marlon Brando: The Godfather Triology	Angela Bassett: Supernova
Paul Soles: The Five Senses	Frank Oz: Blues Brothers 2000

Nick Wells: Robert De Niro	Brian: Edward Norton
Max Baron: Marlon Brando	Diane: Angela Bassett
Danny: Paul Soles	Director: Frank Oz