Street Thief

You will find yourself caring very much for Karr, despite is not so loveable persona. After all, he is an unrepentant thief with an overbearing ego. But, you will overlook all his flaws by the end.

Original and genius screenplay.

Once in awhile a truly great film flies so far under the radar it's tragic. Enter Malik Bader's STREET THIEF. I've returned to this movie over the years probably more so than most of my favorite films. Something about it just strikes the right chords in me.

Two filmmakers document the daring crimes of a master thief named Kaspar Carr as he creeps through the city planning and executing break-ins, robberies, and jewelry heists-all while staying two steps ahead of the cops and any other threat to his meticulous hustle. Think MAN BITES DOG but with a hard-edged, charismatic master thief at the enter of the action. Carr smokes like a wildfire, swears like a sailor, he's street smart, calculating and cool-and he's dangerously good at his job.

Shot on grainy 16mm, the film is intense, suspenseful with an in-your-face verism that absolutely feels like the events unfolding are real life. It's a faux doc, crime film, noir, and character study all rolled into one. Writer/director/star Malik Bader's charismatic performance as our lone wolf protagonist gives the film a rugged realism, and the open ending always stays with me awhile. I never get tired of watching this movie. It probably sounds like I'm overselling it, but whatever, I love it and I think it deserves more attention.

I can highly recommend seeing this movie for it's entertainment value!

I really liked the perceived realism of it, especially when considering:

A) This is a fairly independent production ("non-Hollywood").

B) The plot and style was quite original!

I actually just stumbled upon this title on Netflix recently and watched it based on reviews there. I have to say Malik Bader is pretty hairy and not so pleasing to look at but I think this adds to the griminess of his character, Kasper Karr. The fact that it is filmed in a documentary style makes it even better in my opinion. In an interview I read online Bader talks about how the documentary style makes the crime more realistic and it also provides for a unique character study feel for the viewer. In doing this it is also letting the viewer in on the street thief "profession" and showing a side most I think including myself are not used to seeing. That is of course an inside view of a street thief from the thief perspective and not the police or law enforcement side. Another point Bader makes in the interview I read online is that most crime oriented films don't bring you the realism you crave. But this film definitely does with the play by play of Karr's routine and his cold nature. It could almost be likened to an episode of dirty jobs! I'll give it an 8 for its edgy perspective on thievery and for its somewhat character study feel.

Hey anyone looking for a fresh look at a criminal movie, this is it. I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival and I was blown away. The Q&A with director afterwords was great because people couldn't grasp what they just saw. It is so real its scary. Too bad this movie hasn't been picked up yet because it would do great both in box office and in rentals. I'm not sure if its still playing in festivals but if it is playing near you go see it. You wont be disappointed. The filmmakers follow a thief on his routine of scouting locations and prepping for the heist. The thief is aware of the camera and actually isn't always compliant with the filmmakers during interview sessions. In fact he doesn't even allow the filmmakers to go inside most places and actually film what he's doing. He is mic'ed so we only hear whats going on. This effect makes the film seem even more real. I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone but the one heist he does allow the filmmakers inside for is quiet amazing to watch. I remember being on the edge of my seat and usually I look around the audience to see everyone else,s reactions, being a filmmaker myself, but this scene I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. So again I strongly recommend this film to everyone. I believe this is one of the best films of the year and the best one I saw at Tribeca.