The Italian Job (1969)
review © 2024 by P. Douglas Reeder
Come for the automotive mayhem, stay for the... um... ah... solid performances by Michael Caine and Nöel Coward? The action scenes are classic, but there's not much else.
The heist plan is explained to the audience, and then goes as planned — which is repetitive. Giving the audience a few key points would have been enough.
There are too many characters, but the screenplay doesn't allow the viewer to focus on a few. The leader's girlfriend is given a lot of screen time, that could have been used to develop the rest of the gang — but then she's shuffled offstage halfway through, wasting the setup.
The gold is supposed to be important and well guarded, but the guards are unprepared and incompetent, making the heist that much less of an achievement.
The computer expert (played by Benny Hill in his usual mode) is supposed to be eccentric, but comes off as a disgusting sexual harasser to a modern audience.
The test of blowing off the doors of the bullion van would be a highlight, if it hadn't been spoiled by that clip being shown everywhere, including during the DVD startup.
The Mini Coopers driving down stairs, through pedestrian arcades and sewers, and across rooftops is wonderfully over the top.
As the audience identifies with the crew, but they are criminals, the cliffhanger ending is satisfying.
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