The Steal

Caught this on late night telly. Wasn't expecting much from on a Wednesday night, at midnight.

However, its not that awful really. A bit cheesy in places, but quite funny, if you wind your sense of humour down a few notches.

The performances were OK, the ending predictable (although I profess to enjoying quite how films reach their obvious conclusions) and while I was expecting them, the cameos were cool as well. I've always been a Stephen Fry fan.

I certainly wouldn't have paid to see it, but in terms of a quiet, late night film, when you've got nothing better to do, its quality entertainment.

The basic plot is Supergirl (Helen Slater) teams up with Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) to steal money from a Hedge fund run by Oscar Wilde (Stephen Fry). It's a very British movie which isn't that funny but okay for a wet afternoon.

A short review but...

Avoid at all costs, a thorough waste of 90mins. At the end of the film I was none the wiser as to what had actually happened. It's full of cameos (Stephen Fry (3mins), Jack Dee (30 secs), the "Philadelphia" girls) and some vaguely recognisable people but it just doesn't make any sense. Whether the story just got lost in the edit I don't now but jeez...

Put on a DVD instead or go to bed and get some rest!!!

2 out of 10 (for the cameos and a Morris Minor car chase)

A very oddball film is The Steal. It's definitely a very British crime caper with an original, (if not really interesting) little twist. The story starts with a wise lawyer recruiting an American computer hacker to take money from a international company that has destroyed part of a small Asian country to build a leisure complex. She is teamed up with a man who works for the city council to carry out the heist. I won't spoil it, but I'll just say what follows is not a conventional heist film, more a very British farcical comedy with a firm tongue in cheek. It doesn't really work very well, but for some strange reason I quite enjoyed watching it, maybe for the originality, maybe because Alfred Molina was in it, maybe because the lawyer character was so cool, maybe for nice footage of the British countryside whatever, I don't think I can really recommend this film as such, but if you do watch it don't be prepared for anything ground breaking.

This is definitely light entertainment, and the story so straight forward that by the end of the movie, all is clear. No replays needed, but I would be very happy to watch it again in a year or two if I'm still around. It's so pleasant not to have the ending twisted simply to make it unpredictable, nor to be hit in the face by a barrage of blasphemies and sexual expletives. (Blasphemies I find particularly offensive, but a small number of relatively mild examples of bad language doesn't faze me in the slightest.)

Alfred Molina (as Cliff) seems an unlikely romantic to me, but it would be hard to find any man uninterested in the attractive and competent character portrayed so well by Helen Slater (as Kim). Heathcote Williams struck me as ideally cast. So, too, did Peter Bowles and Dinsdale Landen who played deliciously stereotyped characters. The slapstick aspect was not overdone, so it was quite amusing when it occurred. The story moved forward without lulls, and although not taxing to the intellect, it held my interest throughout.

As usual, I did look for the DVD in case there was one at a bargain basement price, cheap being necessary for this title, but the search was in vain. Nevertheless, watching it on TV was enjoyable and rather fun.