Like "Ocean's 11," Neil Jordan's "The Good Thief" is also a free spirited remake (Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob Le Flambeur," 1955) about a gambling wise guy who plans a casino heist with a cast of shady, eccentric characters.

Jordan wrote and directed this film starring Nick Nolte, Ralph Fiennes and Tcheky Karyo. Showcased with wonderful cinematography, this complex story has lots of texture, with nubby sub plots woven into the fabric. Jordan crowns the story by insinuating sexy and talented, young new comer Nutsa Kukhiani throughout the planning and execution of the score. She is a cocktail waitress and hooker, with a drug problem, and works in the type of nightclubs that the high rollers in Paris prefer to pretend do not exist.

Jordan said that there are many young women from Eastern European countries in Paris and Nice that are in her type of situation. Promised jobs only to find that the person they gave their passport to now holds it as leverage, they are forced to work in menial jobs if they are lucky and prostitution if they are not. This theme was also touched upon in "25th Hour," and the unreleased "Lana's Rain."

A part of marketing for the film seems to be the press having fun with Nolte's Hawaiian-shirted, drugged out mug shot last fall that was getting laughs six months after the fact, most recently at the Academy Awards show hosted by Steve Martin. That image of him very much fits the down on his luck gambler in the film, drugs and all.

Some of Jordan's prior collaborations were "Crying Game," "Michael Collins," "Butcher Boy," and "End of the Affair." Although much of his recent material has been adapted from other screenplays or books, he currently is writing a novel so he'll have original work to base future films on.

Ralph Fiennes plays a deadly serious art dealer to the underground trade. The part was written specifically for him and was shot in just two days, and his compensation was "…essentially a meal." That's one way to control cost.

With so many movies focused on visual events (explosions, CGI, etc.), Neil is pleased to say that his films "…are not limited to that." Too many films seem to forget the dialogue, "…nobody talks in movies anymore," Neil says. Too often what we hear is TV sit-com quality dialogue, profanity for the sake of making a PG film PG-13 so the teens will come and see it, or not so well disguised clichés because the movie has nothing to say.

With so many people in the world, reflecting diverse cultures, the stories and feelings conveyed are endless. As writer/director of "The Good Thief," Jordan captures some of this. The life styles and what's going on in the world, the way it is. Neil Jordan not only has a lot to say, but it's actually worth listening to.