The Maiden Heist

Of course it was no :Lion in Winter, but it was funny, lighthearted and had 4 good actors in it. If you are a fan of any of them you won't be disappointed. I was surfing and just happened to come across it. Cute and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. I am sorry some others have taken such a negative view. It does not pretend to be a serious drama, and I am sure Walken, Freeman, Harden and Macy had a great time making it. It plays to characters they have all played.....and there is no blood or gore. I did enjoy the 'getting ready" scenes they played really well..and so what if the background is not what you expected..it is still worth the time..

I loved this movie. Hubby brought it home for my birthday pizza-movie night and it was wonderful. The characters are different from what you would normally see these fine actors playing and it seems like they enjoyed it! The performances were uniformly excellent. The story was lovely.

And I, at least, believed that these pieces were THAT important to these characters. I think if you stand in the presence of art for hours...days...months...years...you could easily find in it the source for what you feel you are missing.

Some of the reviews say it is slow, but I think sometimes it is so nice to take a little time to get to know the characters in a story rather than having their life story shoved down your throat in 90 seconds so that the explosions can begin...give it a try...please...

When I saw the cast, I put this on my watchlist, regardless of any ratings. Christopher Walken is his usual freak self and wait until you see Morgan Freeman and Macy's haircuts...hilarious on their own. I found the film engaging and humorous...not a roll on the floor comedy, just humorous. Worth a watch

THE MAIDEN HEIST (there is a more to the title than you might think) is like getting together with old friends for a chuckle. Michael LeSieur has written a feel good comedy and Peter Hewitt has directed that script with the help of a fine cast and the results are a fun film that has some gentle hidden messages about friendship, relationships, and loving your job.

A Boston art museum is making plans to ship an exhibition of works to Denmark. This news is hocking and upsetting to three of the museum guards: Charles (Morgan Freeman, in a subtle gender twist) is passionate for a painting of a girl with cats, Roger (Christopher) is literally enamored by a painting of a lonely girl on a beach, and military minded George (William H. Macy) is so obsessed by a bronze sculpture of an athlete that he secretly poses au natural imitating the pose of the athlete when no one is around. When these three works are designated to be part of the shipment to Denmark the three men pop into action - they find artists to copy their beloved artworks to 'exchange' in the crates when the exhibition leaves the museum. How they achieve this bold heist is the plot of the film. There are many problems: the exchanged crate must contain the authentic pieces accompanied by George until the shipment leaves the museum, and Roger's intrusive wife Rose (Marcia Gay Harden) nearly aborts the boys' plan by insisting on an anniversary trip to Florida. The heist has its problems, as the museum guards are simply good guys trying to prevent the sale of their beloved art works they guard every day. The poster line says it all: 'They're not bad guys, just bad thieves.'

It is a pleasure to see three fine actors such as Freeman, Walken and Macy pull off this comedy, aided by the absurd character Marcia Gay Harden inhabits. It is well-scripted full and it is very obvious that these actors are having a great time with the film.

Grady Harp

Maiden Heist (2008) The Maiden Heist quickly sold out at its opening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It's a light-hearted caper that makes for undemanding viewing. It is a fairly entertaining comedy heist film starring Morgan Freeman, William Macy, and Christopher Walken. Plot. Great art has its protectors every day in the major museums. Three guards are more than dedicated to the job they do. Their museum brings in modern work that has no appeal to the guards, and the museum authorities plan to sell the classic pieces, sending them elsewhere in the world. When Roger (Christopher Walken) and George (William H. Macy) and Charles (Morgan Freeman) find their long-beloved work transplanted to Europe, they not only miss their favorite art pieces, but they make plans to steal the works with which they have become obsessed. Roger becomes the mastermind of an inside plot to perform the biggest art heist in the history of their museum. First each must obtain a forgery; then, they have to smuggle the forgeries into the museum and find a way to make the switches. The heist is complicated by Roger's intrusive wife - he's promised her a trip to Florida for their anniversary - and George's proclivity for taking his clothes off when standing in front of the warrior statue he loves. THE MAIDEN HEIST was originally going to have a theatrical release, but the bankruptcy of the Yari Film Group put the film in a direct to DVD status. It feels like a 70s movie that Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon would have done, where slightly nutty characters would made the film but that's not the case anymore. This is a comedy that might make Woody Allen fans recall (affectionately) Small Time Crooks, even though this film is very different to Allen's caper. The Maiden Heist isn't another turkey unceremoniously dumped to Netflix. It's an above average straight-to-DVD effort, it is weaker than one might expect considering its power stars in the cast . It's really quite an entertaining comedy though more could have been done but I like it OK as it was. Not a great film but not a bad film 3 stars.