The Good Thief

3.5 Stars

Rating

Language, sexuality, drug content and some violence

Director

Neil Jordan

A clever heist

Starring

Nick Nolte is the perfect choice to portray the down and out, whiskey voiced gambler, retired thief, and heroin addict, known as Bob. An expatriate that we meet as he holes up, to shoot up, in the toilet of a seedy Paris nightclub. He's had a lot of experience operating on this level; as he's able to rouse himself well enough to save a young man from being gunned down, and to rescue the passport of a wise beyond her years, young woman named Anne (Nutsa Kukhianidze). Her passport is held by a pimp to keep her working as a prostitute. The club and the conversation between Bob and Anne set the pace for the film. It is at once frenetic and reflective.

An old ally entices Bob into one last heist. A big score to go out on, the theft of priceless artwork at a Monte Carlo casino, as well as the cash from its vaults. Bob does what he's probably done a few other times. He handcuffs himself to his bed and tells Anne not to release him until he's clean of the drugs - cold turkey. A few days later he emerges, sober enough to elude his long-time nemesis and friend, Roger (Tcheky Karyo), a detective, who knows that Bob is planning something and warns him that he'll face a long prison sentence if he's caught.

Ralph Fiennes plays a deadly serious art dealer to the underground trade. Powerful performances help fill-in the loopholes in the plot. Heist X betrayal = high stakes action.