L'homme de la Riviera

This was a re-make of the 1955 film noir, "Bob LeFlambeur," which I also own. That was black-and-white and made in France while this is 2002 movie in color with English-speaking actors.

Usually I'll take the original over the re-make but not in this case....with one major consideration. In order to like this film, I had to play the DVD with the English subtitles on because many of the accents were just too tough to decipher and if you can't understand the dialog, it gets a bit frustrating. The story is confusing enough as it is, so, if you have a similar problem as I had, play this with the subtitles.

If there is such a thing as colorful film noir, this would be it, with many splashes of the neon nightlife of France, inside and outside.

Story-wise, if you're confused you are not alone. After two viewings, I still haven't totally figured out the twist at the end. The dialog tries to be snappy mid-40s Raymond Chandler stuff and sometimes it's great, other times it's affected. Overall, however, it 's fun. Nick Nolte delivers most of the clever lines. The young girl in here, Nutsa Kukhianidze, is intriguing new face, as was the case with Isabelle Corey in "Bob."

This movie gets a lot of negative reviews from professional critics. Don't trust them; give this a look.

Set on the scenic French Riviera, Neil Jordan's `The Good Thief' is a remake of 1955's `Bob Le Flambeur,' a Gallic film that enjoyed a successful re-release in this country a few years back. This new version is a stylish caper film about an aging master criminal who comes out of retirement to help lift some priceless paintings from a Monte Carlo casino.

In terms of plotting, there is little that we haven't seen in this type of film before. First, there's the idea for the heist, then the wooing of the reluctant `reformed' criminal, then the gathering of the other participants, then the intricate planning and rehearsing for the job, followed by the inevitable double dealing and double crosses, and ending with the sly turnabout ending to set our heads spinning and make us question everything we have seen heretofore. But Jordan has a knack for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, and this he accomplishes with a complex screenplay, a strong sense of atmosphere, a host of well-developed characters, a sly sense of humor and an assortment of first-rate performances from a talented cast. Nick Nolte is superb as Bob, a shrewd, world-weary thief who is also a compulsive gambler and drug addict. Needless to say, the role seems tailor made for the star. Most of the rest of the cast is made up of French or Eastern European actors, all of whom do a fine job in their assorted roles.

Actually, the only complaint I have about the film is a direct result of that largely international cast. Much of the film's dialogue is hard to understand due in large part to the very thick accents emanating from most of the actors. Even the one native English speaker, Nolte, is difficult to comprehend at times, but that's just because Nolte is simply being Nolte and we expect to miss half of what he is saying anyway.

Apart from that, `The Good Thief,' less polished and slick than movies like "Ocean's Eleven," offers top-notch entertainment for the hardcore heist film aficionado.

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.

There isn't much one can, or for that matter should say about Neil Jordan's "The Good Thief". Fun and stylish heist movie that drags a bit in the middle but gets back on track by the end. Along for the ride with a weathered thief/drug addict/bon vivant named Bob (Nick Nolte) is a motley crew of characters with varying degrees of fashionable zaniness. The most notable of the lot might be transsexual Philippa (Sarah Bridges) and security-systems expert Vladimir from Vladivostok (played by another raconteur European director Emir Kusturica).

Dialogue, though, sounds like it was written by a teenage comic book artist in a foreign palaver and then translated into English. The fact that most of the actors don't list the language of the British as their mother tongue isn't helping either, especially when the details of a complicated robbery are being discussed. However, this all fits comfortably enough in the overall ambiance of the movie. Choice of music is excellent, enhancing the experience greatly. It was nice to see the REAL south of France with its strong Algerian influences instead of just the usual white bred high society crowd most people associate with Monte Carlo and Nice. In addition to Algeria, we also get some Russia, Bosnia, England..

P.S.: Young actress from Georgia Nutsa Kukhanidze is another bright spot managing for her vulnerable character Anne to also come off very sexy, chic and even debonnaire. Through her confident performance she really sells us on the notion of these hardened 'old' men being infatuated with a 17-year-old crack whore from Bosnia. And they say movies sugarcoat reality... :)

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.