Thief - Stealing Heaven

A look at one of the great crime movies and a tribute to mark the passing of one of the great screen actors of his generation. The movie is Michael Mann's Thief, the actor is James Caan. Enough said.
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[@DanTesta58]

Couldn't agree more. Loved this movie since I saw It in The Theater in 1981. Caan's best work. R.I.P. James.

[@tonybush555]

Thank you for commenting, Dan. Appreciated. T.

[@yanncarduner4516]

great film ,great soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.Excellent review Late great James Caan was so amazing as an actor.A real classic in my book.Thanks Tony Bush

[@tonybush555]

You're welcome, Yann.

[@CaminoAir]

Caan really was a one-off actor. Just as credible as a quiet, thoughtful character as an explosive, emotional one. You can always see his character's though processes working in his face and body language. His part in 'A Bridge Too Far' always sticks out for me in that film. Great to see Prosky in a role that broke with his usual type-casting. Again, best wishes for your return to work.

[@tonybush555]

Thanks as always, Numinous20111. Yeah, work. I'm sure it won't be as bad as I expect. Possibly.

[@thatguyfromcetialphaV]

Thief is great, but Heat is by far my fave Michael Mann flick and my fave movie ever made. Midnight Run! I love that one!

[@tonybush555]

Heat is very good. Midnight Run is terrific fun. Thief though is special to me for some reasons I can't adequately define. Who knows? Thanks for commenting, bodie of ci5. Appreciated.

[@cshamble]

I remember I first saw this when I was flicking through the channels on late night tv 15/16 years ago. Fucking loved it and was straight down to HMV on my lunch break the following day to grab the DVD. Another excellent review Tony. Your channel deserves far more subscribers mate.

[@tonybush555]

Thanks for saying that, Chris. Appreciate both your comment and sentiments.

[@stevesj80]

Great film.

[@tonybush555]

Dead right, Steve. Thanks for taking the time to comment. T.

[@stevesj80]

@@tonybush555 Right up there with Collateral which is also one of Manns finest. Are you going to look at his original version of Heat? LA Takedown at some point?

[@tonybush555]

@@stevesj80 No immediate plans, Steve, but it's a future possible. Many thanks. T.

[@delbertgrady413]

I am thankful for your review. I've never heard of Thief, until now. I got a hard on 19 minutes in to this perfectly edited piece of cinema. Magic hour can happen when directors, cinematographers, and natural light collide for superb visual magic. "Thief" is completed capture of cinematic magic hour from begin to end.

[@tonybush555]

Very true, Delbert Grady. Many thanks for your comment. Appreciated.

[@geraldmorson4522]

Great review of a great film , tangerine dream a fav from my days in our forces 👍👍

[@tonybush555]

Thanks, Gerald. T.

[@leetaylor3099]

I know Mann has garnered a reputation for stylish crime thrillers, but my personal fave of his has to be The Last of the Mohicans. Classy photography with great performances and a great score.

[@tonybush555]

Agreed, Lee, Last Of The Mohicans is an exhilarating action adventure movie. Me, I live in the hope that one day I'll get to see the three and a half-hour original version of Mann's The Keep from 1983 released on Blu Ray. Surely with today's technology it could be digitally restored. Paramount butchered it down to 96 incomprehensible minutes then wondered why it flopped. As you would. Bloody mystery, yeah?

[@leetaylor3099]

@@tonybush555 I love The Keep. Have to own up to my ignorance though, I did not realise it was a Michael Mann film.

[@ninfilms]

Thief is a brilliant intelligent debut for Michael Mann. Like the best Michael Mann films Other than this is one of James Caan's best acting films the supporting cast are brilliant and believable. Tangerine Dream are geniuses when it come to film scores.

[@tonybush555]

With you on that all the way, John.

[@graemewilson7975]

Caan was at to me one of key reasons godfather worked. His killer one liners and almost bull like charging at everything attitude. He played this and surprising vulnerability perfectly. Thief is a perfect movie (in all its three cuts). Caan and weld make a terrific believable couple, both on the wrong side of 40 and fate and the mafia destroying caans new world with weld. Robert prosky plays a truly repellent human being (or any tory MP) to get a sense of his depravity and coercive behaviour. Jimmy Belushi on hand as caans right hand ably supports him. As was to become the case with Mann Thief has a neon reflective sheen and great score by tangerine dream

[@tonybush555]

Outstanding summary, Graeme. Many thanks for posting. T.

[@graemewilson7975]

@@tonybush555 hope you well. Hope to see new reviews in next few weeks. Take care.

[@tonybush555]

@@graemewilson7975 Aiming to upload a new one in early December.

[@steadfastandyx4947]

Agree with every word said.

[@tonybush555]

Then I'm in agreement with you, steadfastandy. T.

[@yanncarduner4516]

Tangerine Dream carved a wonderful soundtrack for William Friedkin's Sorcerer.Another classic!

[@tonybush555]

Sorcerer review here, Yann: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5mcopxuh9prY5Y

[@yanncarduner4516]

@@tonybush555 thanks!

[@finalascent]

The Tangerine Dream score for Legend was also quite good. I've heard a lot of frustration over their score replacing Jerry Goldmith's work on that film, but I think Ridley Scott made the right choice.

[@finalascent]

7:44 - The Late Dennis Farina! A lot of Mann's crime stuff (Thief, Heat, the excellent cult show Crime Story, and TV film LA Takedown) was based on real life exploits - a book called "The Home Invaders" by Frank Hohimer, and real life Chicago PD cops such as Chuck Adamson. Mann sure like to change things up - in Thief, Farina played a thug, John Santucci played a (corrupt)cop - in the series Crime Story, Farina played a heroic detective, Santucci a jewel thief and henchman of a rising crime kingpin.

[@tonybush555]

Loved Crime Story, especially the spine-tingling intro with Del Shannon singing Runaway. Great atmosphere, and Farina was class in it.

[@brendanduffy2367]

Robert Proskys scary as fuck.

[@tonybush555]

A telling portrait of casual villainy. Agreed, Brendan. T.

[@johntaylorson7769]

Christ I wish I liked Tangerine Dream. Even after all these years, Thief and Manhunter- both films that I find stellar otherwise- are a struggle for me to get through due to those bloody soundtracks. It just goes right through me. To be fair, I'm not keen on some of the music choices in Mann's later films either, but at least they're not as teeth rattling to me as Tangerine bloody Dream. Can't please everyone.

[@tonybush555]

Although I'm not a massive fan of them as a band making records and playing gigs, I am impressed by their soundtrack work. Sorcerer being a prime example - one of the very best integrations of music and visuals in my opinion. However, John, I do sympathise and understand how you feel. T.

[@christophertheriault3308]

I'll stick my neck out and come out and say that I never took to James Caan as a leading man. It's interesting in this review hearing Tony describing him as having charisma, for me he just drains the life out of every scene he's in. I don't know if effete is the right word to use to describe how I view him, but Brian's Song in particular is completely unwatchable for me. His death in The Godfather is probably my favorite scene of his from his early career. The only Caan movie I like from this period is Rollerball, but for me that movie succeeds in spite of, not because of, him, as everything I don't like about him from other films is there too. Jonathan E isn't a super compelling character and could probably have been played by any number of other actors. If Tony rates this film so highly though I may be forced to reappraise my view of his career after checking it out. Funnily enough though my dislike for Caan only goes to the first half of his career. Once he got old and moved into the later half (Eraser from 1996 is a decent enough benchmark for this) his mere presence in a movie stopped bothering me. But I don't think he had any roles that really demanded anything from him in this era except in Misery, which was very enjoyable. Of course, since I already said I like seeing him get gunned down in Godfather and he's also getting abused in Misery, maybe that means something. Or maybe it doesn't, as Tony might say.

[@tonybush555]

It's a matter of personal taste, I think. I have tremendous difficulty with Pierce Brosnan. I've been a Bond fan for a very long time, seen every Bond movie in a cinema, repeat watch all of them, even Quadrant Of Bootlace. But I cannot bear watching Brosnan as Bond or his four franchise films. He is absolutely nails on a blackboard to me. Taste, Chris. It may be true what they say: there's no accounting for it. Or is there? Many thanks. T.

[@tomsenior7405]

Algorithm.