Italian Job, The
A nice story of revenge takes place here after Steve (Ed Norton) double crosses a gang of thieves on the heist of a lifetime. Killing John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) helps mastermind Charlie Croker lure in Bridger’s daughter, a do-good safe-cracker (Charlize Theron), to the gang’s next job – taking the gold back. Going from the canals of Venice, the mountains of the Swiss Alps to the streets of Philadelphia and finally to the streets of Los Angeles, the footage is breathtaking and adds a great backdrop to the fire hot action. This is not a straight-up remake of the original movie of the same name, but more of an adaptation to the original. Stealing and using the amazing Mini Cooper automobiles are two details that remain true to the original, and the results are thrilling. The characters are developed really well – from “Handsome Rob” to the pent up ball of energy of Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron); and the extra documentaries are brilliant, somewhat redundant from featurette to featurette, but enlightening. A couple memorable lines include: “Fine? You know what fine stands for, don’t you? ‘Freaked out; Insecure; Neurotic; and Emotional.” Another moment occurs for Bridger, who shouts “Yeah!” while under cover. She explains her outburst by stating, “Got the Holy Spirit. You should get on it. It’s a good train.” [Paramount / Doug Van Pelt]
Ratings:
Obscenities: 18
Graphic Violence: 02
Nude Scenes: 00
% Spiritual Relevancy: 30
DVD rating key:
Obscenities (fka: BL (Blue Language)) # of “blue” / cuss words.
Ideal rating = 0
Graphic Violence (fka: BG (Blood ‘n’ Guts)) # of scenes with graphic violence.
Acceptable rating = <50
SC (Spiritual Conversations) An arbitrary rating based on the ease of starting a conversation on spiritual things.
Ideal rating = 50+
Nude Scenes (fka: NP (Naked People)) # of nude scenes.
Ideal: 0 (A rating of less than 1 signifies questionable scenes)
This DVD review was printed in the Jan/Feb issue (#105) HM Magazine. You can order a copy of this issue online in our store, or pick it up at a local newsstand.
©2003 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved.
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