L'homme de la Riviera

Heist movies are of two kinds: those where the heist is successful and end in some sort of bliss for the robbers (on whose side the viewers always are) and those where it fails and ends up in tragedy. The heist told in this movie belongs to a third kind because in my opinion it's neither successful nor unsuccessful like you will see in the end and understand why I am saying so. Nick Nolte does an excellent job in the role of a middle aged gambler, heister and drug addict who plans a robbery of valuable pictures in a casino in the south of France despite the fact that he is being watched by the police. The heist plan is very original indeed and it is based on a fake heist on one place while the real robbery will take place on another one. The end of the movie is bit confusing while mixing luck at gambling (in a rather unbelievable and unexplained way) with the success or failure of the heist itself. Well but it's a merry movie (except for the only death that occurs there)and Nick Nolte plays his part in a wonderful way.

I have seen every film directed by Neil Jordan. Being a big fan of his, I didn't want to miss this one. Well, it was the big disappointment of my life. This remake of Bob le Flambeur is horribly directed and acted. The last sequence is just about the best thing of this film, but as for the rest, it was just mediocre, at best.

The idea of putting together these many characters in the Riviera was probably a great thought, but then, the many actors of different nationalities and backgrounds prove to be a hindrance to the story. If one can get over the accent problem, then there is the sound track of this film, which was so hard to hear at all, at least in the theater where I saw it, that you have a double hurdle to get over.

Nick Nolte with his hair dyed a carrot hue looks hideous; he probably was going through a bad period when he made this movie. His take on Bob is fitting with the character's spiral descent into hell because of his drug problem, no doubt. But he is also hard to understand since he whispers and mumbles most of the time. A little more clarity would have helped.

The last moments of the film are very well executed, but as caper films go, this picture doesn't contribute anything to the genre.

Sorry Mr. Jordan, better luck next time out. Maybe leave remakes to mediocre directors. You could not improve in the original one, so why even bother?

THE GOOD THIEF (3+ outta 5 stars)

Very good character study/caper film about a drug-addicted American criminal (Nick Nolte) in France who straightens himself out for one more Big Score. He in constantly under the watchful eye of a kindly police inspector who wants to stop him for his own good... so he hits upon a plan to devise a *fake* robbery to divert attention from the *real* one. It's a remake of an old French classic, "Bob La Flambeur" (which I haven't seen yet... so I may have a different take on this movie after I've seen the original). The cast (various character actors of different nationalities) is great... and Nolte portrays a very believable down-on-his-luck substance-abuser... but that may not be much of a stretch for him. Directed and written by Neil Jordan... it may not be one of his best movies ("The Crying Game", "The Butcher Boy") but it's still a fine piece of work.

In `The Good Thief' Nick Nolte plays Bob Montagnet, a down-but-not-yet-out Bogie, a very bright thief, and a heroin addict. Natsa Kukshianidge's femme fatale, Anne, is a 17-year old Bacall. It's the south of France--Nice and Monaco-- and it's time to relieve Monte Carlo of some precious paintings. Picasso is the model for Nolte's scamming talents: Picasso's conflicted painting of a woman with 2 sides to her face is the appropriate analogy for the duality of the young girl, both innocent and depraved, and Nolte's gambler, good and bad as the title suggests. Picasso's being accused of stealing from everyone adds to the allusive charm. The caper involves a Judas deceiver to support director Neil Jordan's frequent Christian motif (Remember `Jude' in "Crying Game"). The ‘crucifixion's' good thief, Nolte's thief, is good to the young Anne by saving her from the pimp. Jordan again joins an unlikely couple (Consider Fergus and Dil in "CG"), here a father figure with an errant daughter.

The winding roads of the Mediterranean shoreline are also fitting metaphor for Nolte's tortuous path to redemption. The requisite drying-out scenes, where Bob handcuffs himself to the bed and rejects Anne's offer of sexual freedom, are effective realism in an otherwise stylish film that eschews clarity and ingenuity in favor of some character development and much atmosphere.

The scenes at the casino are smoother than "Casablanca's," slicker than James Bond's, and lighter than "Croupier's." When Bob and Anne begin their end of the elaborate heist by challenging the house odds, there is little to worry about their losing but much about the philosophy of gambling, of going all the way regardless of the outcome. However, Jordan's take on slick thievery is not really different from that found in the recent `Confidence,' `Heist,' or `Ocean's Eleven.' The denouement is hardly logical or dramatically tight: Does an ex-thief go clean? Does he save his Mary Magdalene? Does he stop his losing streak and addiction? Does he pull off the heist? None of this is the point.

Bob as a "good thief " is all that matters.

And Nolte as a good actor? He is very good.

A heist movie that oozes style, particularly in the form of Nick Nolte, gangster, part-time heroin addict (he handcuffs himself to the bed to go cold turkey before a job) and good guy. He befriends a gorgeous young waif (Nino Kukhanidze) with only altruistic motives (when she could potentially become his Achilles Heel) and proceeds to mastermind a complex heist, playing a chummy cat and mouse with the chief of police. Far classier than your average thriller, and mercifully lacking (with the occasional plot-based exception) in explosions and fast car chases.